Opinion
End of protest week
Christian Lindner’s speech to the angry farmers was important – and a missed opportunity
Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) spoke to demonstrating farmers in Berlin
© Monika Skolimowska / DPA
Finance Minister Christian Lindner faced the protest of thousands of farmers in Berlin. You should be grateful to him for that. However, parts of his speech were unhelpful.
There is the farmers’ advocate Christian Lindner, who as an opposition politician joked about incorrectly measured nitrate values at a demonstration in autumn 2019 and became the favorite of farmers.
There is the baker’s grandson Christian Lindner, who, as a bread ambassador at the Green Week 2020, campaigned for those farmers who, disappointed by the CDU and CSU, he saw as politically homeless.
There is the defensive democrat Christian Lindner, who recently called on the farmers at the FDP’s Epiphany meeting to protest peacefully and not to allow themselves to be exploited.
There is the regulatory politician Christian Lindner, who is suspicious of subsidies, even if they go to farmers.
And there is the passionate hunter Christian Lindner, who “as my own wife’s stable boy” helps clean out the horse box and who is hurt that there are now demonstrations against him.
Too many roles for one Christian Lindner? Absolutely not. On Monday afternoon, at the farmers’ demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the Finance Minister explained how the different perspectives shape his beliefs. And he shouted these convictions against the anger of thousands of farmers before him. You have to be grateful to him for that. Lindner was offensive and willing to engage in dialogue – without denying himself.
Whistles and boos against Christian Lindner
The demonstrators booed and whistled at him. “Get away, get away,” they shouted to him. Even soothing words from the farmer president were of little help. Lindner went through with his speech. He has slipped into all the roles that are available to him. Has assured that nothing has changed in his understanding of the needs of farmers since autumn 2019. He emphasized that agriculture is not an industry like any other. Thanked them for the peaceful protest and brought an offer: less bureaucracy, more entrepreneurial freedom.
He explained the constraints he sees himself in as a minister: increased interest rates, high energy prices, sleepy investments. Everyone has to make their contribution. According to the Vice Chancellor, the government had long since heard the farmers’ arguments and corrected its policy. It was the most powerful passage of his speech. Because it has drawn a line that government politicians have to draw every now and then.
Farmers protests
Thousands of vehicles block the center of Berlin – Finance Minister Lindner is booed
In this respect, Lindner’s appearance can be understood as a committed defense of a tried-and-tested culture of compromise in Germany. As a stop sign of recognition: You had your success in balancing interests, but there is nothing more than that. After all, whoever has the loudest tractor horns behind them doesn’t automatically win in political competition.
However, Lindner’s speech is not suitable as a prime example of the traffic light coalition’s new sensitivity to the trigger points of social conflicts. More like a prime example of a missed opportunity to create unity.
Without reference to the future of agriculture, Lindner listed other groups against which the government is taking action or must take action: climate activists, asylum seekers, recipients of citizens’ benefit.
It leaves a bad aftertaste
It seemed like an ingratiation to the baser instincts of the crowd gathered in front of Lindner. According to the motto: Look, dear farmers, I know what you’re thinking. Of course we spend far too much money on the unemployed and asylum seekers. And the real threat to our democracy is of course left-wing extremist climate activists.
Why are people talking about this at a farmers’ demonstration? Why don’t hunters and grooms talk more about what the climate-friendly and environmentally friendly hunting and farming of tomorrow should look like?
It may have been intended as a proof of achievement against the strange “The Abgehobenen there in Berlin” fantasies of some of the previous speakers. According to the motto: Look, dear farmers, what we as a government are actually doing and who else has to do their part.
But the tragedy of the day is that nothing convinced the farmers. They kept shouting and whistling. Lindner deserves respect for his steadfastness. The only thing that remains is the bad aftertaste that different groups have spoken apart precisely where, in the face of massively organized special interests, an appeal for everyone’s solidarity would have been necessary.