German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir warned that the country faces the risk of becoming as politically polarised as the US against the background of mass protests by farmers against subsidy cuts, Politico reported.
“This is a dangerous divide that can lead to conditions like those in the USA. People no longer talk to each other; they no longer believe each other and they accuse each other of all the evil in the world.”
In late December, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government announced tax increases and cuts in agricultural subsidies in an attempt to address Germany’s budget deficit crisis. As a result, farmers came out to protest primarily over the phasing out of agricultural fuel subsidies by 2026.
Özdemir stated that some demonstrators were not protesting for the “interests of farmers.” The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, for instance, is positioning itself as the figurehead of the protest, claiming it stands “at the side of our farmers.” However, critics note that the party’s programme still reflects its original stance prior to the wave of protests, when it advocated “more competition and less subsidies” in the farming sector.
If it were up to the AfD, agriculture would simply no longer receive any subsidies.
Last week, angry farmers prevented Economy Minister Robert Habeck from disembarking from a ferry docked in northern Germany. Die Zeit, a German publication, suspects that the protest may have been organised by a woman running for the AfD.
At the same time, Joachim Rukwied, president of the German Farmers’ Association, condemned the Habeck incident:
“We don’t want right-wing and other radical groups with a desire to overthrow the government at our demos. We are democrats.”
