An angry crowd prevented Vice Chancellor Habeck from disembarking from a ferry: For the Green politician, the incident shows how heated the mood is at the moment. The police are investigating a breach of the peace.
After the blockade of a ferry by angry farmers, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck wants to talk to farmers – from the region and also at the federal level. A spokeswoman for the Green politician said this. “It’s part of his style to speak directly to people.”
Habeck himself was concerned about the social climate in Germany after the blockade. “What worries me, even worries me, is that the mood in the country is heating up so much,” explained the Vice Chancellor. Protesting in Germany is “a valuable asset.” Coercion and violence destroyed this property. “We should counteract this with words and deeds,” demanded Habeck.
“As a minister, my job is to protect the police. Many, many others have to fend off attacks on their own and cannot share their uncertainty,” Habeck continued, according to his ministry. They are “the heroes and heroines of democracy”.
He thanked his fellow passengers and the crew on the ferry. “They were suddenly affected. The crew had to deal with a blocked port and manage the difficult situation. The passengers traveling with them wanted to go home or had other plans on the mainland, actually wanted to catch the bus and train, but were initially unable to get off board and had to “First of all, wait patiently,” said Habeck, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the police initiated an investigation against an unknown person for breach of the peace and coercion. The Flensburg police department informed the Evangelical Press Service (epd) of this when asked.
Police: Call for action via social media
On Thursday, farmers on the North Sea coast prevented Habeck from leaving a ferry as he came from a vacation on Hallig Hooge. He later reached the mainland on another ferry. The Flensburg police have now announced further details about their operation: “Calls for a demonstration at the Schlüttsiel ferry pier, where Dr. Habeck was supposed to arrive in the afternoon, were spread on social media.”
Around 80 agricultural vehicles made their way to the ferry pier on Thursday. Up to 300 people gathered there to demonstrate against the federal government’s austerity plans. When the ferry reached Schlüttsiel around 5 p.m., the situation was tense and a dialogue between Habeck and the meeting leaders could not be made possible, the police reported.
25 to 30 people from the meeting tried to get on the ferry. Emergency services sometimes held them back using pepper spray. “After the ferry left, the situation calmed down and the meeting dispersed around 7 p.m.” On Friday night, emergency services finally ensured Habeck’s journey home to Flensburg without any further incidents.
The shipping company boss is horrified by what is happening
The Wyker steamship shipping company said its ferry was “very close to being stormed.” The captain prevented this at the last moment by casting off again, said the shipping company’s managing director, Axel Meynköhn, to the dpa news agency. All approximately 30 passengers who came from the Hallig were prevented from leaving the ferry. A truck driver was forced to reverse from the ramp back onto the ferry. “In my view, this is coercion. This is a bad process,” said Meynköhn. There could also have been medical emergencies on board.
The captain, with the bodyguards on board and after consultation with the police on land, decided to cast off again. “If this decision had been made a minute later, the ferry would have been stormed.” The managing director said he knew from the crew that people would have jumped over if the ship had not already been too far away. “It wasn’t a minute too late, otherwise the mob would have been on board, with unimaginable consequences.”
It is no longer just about Robert Habeck, who was privately on Hooge, it is about the entire ship, its passengers and its crew, emphasized Meynköhn. “There was clearly coercion here. As far as we know, there has never been such an incident in the shipping company’s almost 140-year history.”
Farmers’ association speaks of “no-go”
The German Farmers’ Association (DBV) condemned the blockade and distanced itself from the process. “Personal attacks, insults, threats, coercion or violence are not acceptable,” said association president Joachim Rukwied, according to the statement. “Blockades of this kind are a no-go.”
He further said: “We are an association that upholds democratic practices.” Despite all the dissatisfaction with the federal tax plans, his association naturally respects the privacy of politicians.
Schleswig-Holstein’s farmers’ president Klaus-Peter Lucht criticized the escalation of the protests. “Harassing and threatening politicians undermines democratic discourse and does not help us enforce our legitimate demands,” Lucht explained, according to the association’s statement. Violence should not be a tool in political debate.
“We have already made it clear in advance of our actions that we are not planning or supporting any blockade actions and that we clearly reject violations of the law and calls for them,” said Lucht. He called on all farmers “to be prudent and considerate” for the actions planned for the coming week.
The incident sparked a wave of harsh criticism. Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir condemned the blockade: “These are people who don’t care about German agriculture, they have wet dreams of overthrows, and that won’t happen,” said the Green politician ARD morning magazine. He described the process as unacceptable.
The federal government described the protest as shameful. “With all understanding for a lively culture of protest, no one should care about such a brutalization of political mores,” wrote government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on the platform X, formerly Twitter. The blockade of Habeck’s arrival at the Schüttsiel ferry port “is shameful and violates the rules of democratic coexistence,” it said.
Philip Brost, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, January 5th, 2024 1:01 p.m