German farmers are set to block traffic across Germany in protest at planned cuts to agricultural diesel subsidies, according to Bild.
From Monday, 8 January, demonstrations against the government’s Traffic light coalition in Berlin will take place across the country. Rallies, numerous tractor demonstrations and motorway closures will take place in almost all federal states.
Brandenburg police have announced that around 100 rallies and blockades have been registered. Tractors will also be used to block access roads to motorways, including the A24 (Hamburg-Berlin).
A tractor rally is planned for Monday in Bremen. Around 1,000 farmers from Lower Saxony and Bremen are expected. The central rally will take place on the Reeperbahn in Bremen’s Überseestadt district. In Hamburg, around 900 farmers with their tractors will head into the city centre from three directions during the tractor rally. Traffic is expected to be difficult. But motorways will not be blocked.
On Monday, protests will take place in Hessen. Between 500 and 800 tractors are expected. The route will take them past the Hesse State Chancellery. A rally will be held there from 12 noon. Demonstrations are also planned in Kassel, Frankfurt and Limburg.
A two-day rally and protest camp will also begin in the state capital Dresden on Monday. Protests with tractors will also take place in the Ore Mountains. Another demonstration is scheduled for Wednesday, 10 January. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is expected to attend.
However, larger gatherings will take place in Cologne, Bonn, east of Dortmund and Münster. Also announced are actions in Paderborn, Wuppertal, Aachen and Düsseldorf. The A4 motorway between Merzenich and Langerwehe, near Düren, will be closed on Monday morning.
The association “Land schafft Verbindung” wants to paralyse the land of Rheinland-Pfalz. The tractors are to close all access roads and gradually merge into the A3, A48, A60 and A61 motorways. That’s a total of 150 kilometres of autobahn – at the height of rush hour.
The protest week is scheduled to culminate on 15 January. On Monday, farmers from all over Germany will travel to Berlin to express their discontent.
