In Berlin, thousands of farmers are protesting against the threatened reduction in diesel subsidies. The Green Minister of Agriculture is right at the forefront
The man in the blue hooded jacket had to wait a long time. He had been standing on the truck stage directly in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the cold for over an hour, shifting from one leg to the other as he moved engaged listened unmoved to what the German peasantry thought of the German government’s latest austerity plans. Not much, to say the least. Only then was the Minister of Agriculture allowed to do so Cem Ozdemir step to the microphone. It hadn’t been as loud as it got all day.
To There were thousands of farmers in the morning from all over Germany traveled to the capital, hundreds of them with combine harvesters and tractors, to protest against two planned cuts: the abolition of the diesel privilege and the end of the exemption from vehicle tax, which is expected to cost the industry a total of almost a billion euros per year. So first they blocked parts of the city center, now they honked and trilled, shouted “boo” and “liar”.
“I know they’re coming here with a lot of anger Berlin And what happened next could, depending on your perspective, be described as a show of solidarity, as just opportune or already oppositional. In any case, Özdemir left no doubt that he had not climbed onto that truck stage to protest Not only to defend the traffic light’s austerity decision, but also to join the protest more or less fully. The Green politician’s speech differed at most in nuances from that of the farmers’ president, who had previously spoken.
“Every euro, every cent counts,” shouted Cem Özdemir
Agriculture is doing badly, Özdemir declaimed. “climate change, Ukraine-War, regulations, price wars, cheap competition from abroad” – all of this is hard on the farmers, “every euro, every cent counts,” shouted the minister and at the latest in the follow-up it became clear that he was not just speaking to the farmers, but even more to his coalition: “That’s why I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that this doesn’t happen like that.” And again: Savings are all well and good, but not to this extent, “that’s why I’m fighting in the cabinet to ensure that it doesn’t come with this severity.”
Demo in Berlin
“The traffic lights have to go”: Farmers protest against the government’s austerity plans with harsh messages
Reducing state aid – that sounds like a liberal policy program. Removing climate-damaging subsidies – that sounds like a green wish list. But instead of harmony there is only dissonance. There are rumblings in the FDP parliamentary groupin the green-led ministry also, and so the diesel dispute is just another example of the fragile traffic light budget peace.
“Do not put a disproportionate burden on agriculture”
Özdemir’s stance had already become clear on the day of the agreement, and he expressed skepticism in the government survey in the Bundestag. He then has the whole weekend in various circuits represented his rejection with representatives of the industry, the party and the coalition. The agriculture minister finally complained in an interview with the RND newspapers on Monday that the decision “also surprised him”. Tenor: “I have always warned against putting a disproportionate burden on our agriculture.” Of all things, the removal of agricultural diesel subsidies was only examined in the summer at the express request of Lindner’s Federal Ministry of Finance – and rejected again for political reasons.
You could hear his message early in the morning on the ARD morning magazine, where the minister also reminded that various neighboring countries continue to pay this agricultural subsidy, so abolishing it would immediately lead to competitive disadvantages. And finally, Özdemir’s joker in the debate, the farmers have no alternative to diesel, there are simply no electric tractors – “even politics cannot override physics,” whereupon the interviewer said that Özdemir would really sound like him now Chairman of the farmers’ union.
This might have been a bit uncomfortable for the Green Party politician Cem Özdemir in the past, even if he always liked the role of the senior realist who dared to say things that people were not used to from his people – for the integration of Muslim migrants or arms deliveries to the Peshmerga (Özdemir: “They can’t defeat IS with a yoga mat under their arm”).
Life is easier in the countryside if you understand farmers
That’s why, on the other hand, it might not be entirely wrong for him to be considered a farmer’s understanding these days. There may even be no alternative in his situation. After all, it is much more than just a rumor that the self-proclaimed “Anatolian Swabian” would like to succeed Winfried Kretschmann as the next Green Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg. The next state elections are not officially due until spring 2026, but it is already considered highly ambitious to build on Kretschmann’s successes. With an image as a peasant killer, the project would probably be ultimately hopeless. In the rural area, 39,000 companies still generate 3.5 billion euros in sales per year – and provide work for 67,000 people.
Some are among the 8,000 who, according to the farmers’ association, are in front of the Brandenburg Gate have gathered. A combine harvester suddenly blew straw onto the forecourt, someone contributed a few horse manure, a tractor honked constantly, the farmers’ president called on the farmers to be fair. Özdemir was unimpressed. “I can stand it, I used to be a handball goalkeeper will“Paid for it,” he shouted into the noise. He didn’t want to make himself thin. He didn’t want to promise them the blue sky. But then he preferred to join forces with the farmers – together against the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister. ” We want to convince them!”
“We want new elections!”
And the farmers said: “We want new elections!” – “New elections, new elections!”
Özdemir continued to charm unmoved. He would know that she would work seven days a week. That they would face the challenges of the future. Above all, he wanted to send one message at the end, to be precise a warning to all those who think that so many farmers are not affected: “We would be very wrong in politics,” Özdemir shouted, “because behind them There are many people in rural areas who have it looking similar.” The farmers’ minister suddenly even gets applause from the crowd. That alone was probably worth the long wait.