100 people, 11 tractors gathered at the Ballhausplatz square in the centre of Vienna for a protest by Austrian farmers.
Eleven tractors, a few police cars and about a hundred participants: by Viennese standards, the demonstrations on the Ballhausplatz between the Federal Chancellery and the Hofburg on Friday afternoon were quite manageable.
Farmers from the Freedom Party, represented by blue national councillor Peter Schmiedlechner, invited people to come out to the protests.
Peter Schmiedlechner announced the demands of the tractor march on Facebook, among them “withdrawal from the Green Deal in order to support and not jeopardise domestic production, a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain, abolition of the mineral oil tax and VAT on diesel for agricultural enterprises,” genetic engineering, “laboratory meat” and “insect and worm products.”
The Austrian federal government has increased the budget for agriculture for 2024 to 3.07 billion euros, 129.5 million euros more than in 2023.
Earlier, there was a wave of protests in Germany by farmers against the government’s plans to remove subsidies for them.
