German farmers threaten new protests next week

BERLIN- German farmers threatened Thursday to repeat their crippling protests next week if Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government refuses to drop planned subsidy cuts hitting the agriculture sector.

Thousands of farmers had blocked roads with honking tractors for a week, seeking to overturn plans by Scholz's coalition to scrap tax breaks for agriculture.

"If nothing comes on agricultural diesel, the next protests and action will start from the coming week," said Joachim Rukwied, the head of the German Farmers' Federation.

The protests had prompted the government to partially walk back on the cuts, promising to reinstate a discount on vehicle tax and to phase out a diesel subsidy over several years instead of immediately.

But the farmers have insisted that the gesture was not enough.

"Everything that has been announced until now has only caused more irritation rather than calm things down," said Rukwied, urging Berlin to take action and "prevent widespread farmers' protests".

Scholz's three-way coalition had been forced to make the cuts after a constitutional court ruling late last year blew a multi-billion-euro hole in the state's budget.

But the savings came at a time when Germany's export-oriented economy was already under severe pressure over inflation.

Besides farmers, workers from various sectors -- from metallurgy to transport to education, have staged protests against a backdrop of rising prices and weak economic performance.

But Scholz has defended the cuts as fair, while Finance Minister Christian Lindner braved whistles and boos to tell a farmers' demonstration on Monday that "everyone must contribute" as the government battles to find savings.

AFP