WAngry farmers prevented Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) from leaving a ferry in Schlüttsiel in Schleswig-Holstein. They blocked the pier on Thursday, a police spokesman told the German Press Agency. Habeck, who is also the Minister of Economic Affairs, therefore had to return to the Hallig Hooge.
According to the police, there were more than a hundred demonstrators. Around 30 officers were on duty. They also used pepper spray, a police spokesman said. Nothing was known of any injuries. There were no reports that evening. “There is already a breach of the peace,” said a police spokesman when asked whether an investigation was still being carried out.
A spokeswoman for Habeck told the dpa that the minister was happy to talk to the farmers. “Unfortunately, the security situation did not allow a conversation with all farmers, and the offer made by Minister Habeck to talk to individual farmers was unfortunately not accepted.” According to the police, the situation quickly calmed down once the ferry left.
Scholz complains about the “brutalization of political mores”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the action as shameful. The action violated the rules of democratic coexistence, Scholz explained on the online platform
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) wrote on X: “The fact that you are angry sometimes is a gift. But one thing is clear: violence against people or things has no place in political debate! This discredits the concerns of many farmers who are demonstrating peacefully.”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) also wrote on the consensus that we should interact and argue with each other in a civilized manner. “I always apply the same measures, whether with climate stickers or with the farmers at the ferry port: violence and coercion are despicable and also damage the cause.”
Farmers’ association sticks to action week
The co-chair of the Green parliamentary group, Britta Haßelmann, called the incident a “border crossing”. “This has nothing to do with peaceful protest in a living democracy,” Haßelmann wrote on X. Like her party colleague Konstantin von Notz, the politician called on the farmers’ association to clearly distance itself from the incident.
Former CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak explained on X that a limit was being crossed here. “Anyone who loudly criticizes the content of the traffic light must not remain silent now. That does not work like this!”
The farmers are outraged because of the traffic light coalition’s planned reduction in subsidies. On Thursday, the federal government responded to the massive farmers’ protests: The coalition wants to forego the abolition of the vehicle tax exemption for agriculture. The abolition of the tax relief for agricultural diesel is to be extended and implemented in several steps, as the federal government spokesman announced in Berlin. However, the German Farmers’ Association considers the measures to be inadequate – and is sticking to a week of action planned from Monday. A few hours earlier, the association had once again pointed out the week of action on X and wrote: “It is clear to us: right-wing extremist groups, conspiracy theorists and other radicals have no place here.”
Reul warns farmers about highway blockages
Meanwhile, NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has warned farmers against excessive protest measures. The minister told the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post” that he understood the farmers’ discontent, but that was not a free pass for road blockades: “Not every form of protest helps the cause. This applies to gluing activities as well as to tractor locks. Anyone who goes overboard must expect consequences.” Putting your own interests above public order will ultimately only lead to farmers reaping the displeasure of everyone, said Reul.
Meanwhile, the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior has issued a decree instructing the district police authorities to prepare for motorway blockades. To this end, it ordered “educational measures, particularly on federal motorways” and the “event-related setting up of traffic barriers to prevent access” on motorways. In addition, from Monday at 5 a.m., state operational preparedness forces will be available on call. The decree also states that disabilities of road users are not covered by the freedom of assembly “if the disability of third parties is not just accepted as a side effect, but is intended to increase attention to the demonstration issue.”