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BERLIN (AP) — A group of farmers blocked Germany’s deputy chancellor from disembarking a ferry, hours after the government partially rolled back cost-cutting plans that have infuriated the agricultural sector. The protests drew condemnation from both the government and opposition parties.
German news agency dpa reported that police said on Thursday night that farmers had blocked the pier in Schlüetziel on the North Sea coast, forcing Deputy Prime Minister Robert Habeck to return to the small island of Huge. . They announced on Friday that Habeck, an environmental activist and member of the Green Party and also Minister of Economy and Climate Change, had arrived on the mainland in the evening on another ferry.
Police said more than 100 people took part in the blockade, and around 30 police officers used pepper spray.
Prime Minister Scholz’s unpopular government angered farmers last month by announcing plans to cut agricultural subsidies as part of a package to plug a 17 billion euro ($18.6 billion) hole in the 2024 budget. Farmers staged a tractor protest in Berlin and called for more demonstrations next week.
On Thursday, the government announced a partial reversal. The government announced that it would maintain the automobile tax exemption for agricultural vehicles and gradually postpone the tax reduction plan for agricultural diesel.
The German Farmers’ Association soon announced that the climb had not gone far enough. He said he was still demanding that both proposals be withdrawn and would stick to protests planned for next week.
Scholz’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said on social platform X that the ferry blockade was “shameful and violates the rules of a democratic society.” Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote: “Violence against people or property has no place in political debate!” This discredits the cause of the many farmers who are peacefully demonstrating. ”
Hendrik Wust, governor of North Rhine-Westphalia and a member of Germany’s main conservative opposition bloc, wrote about X: “I share the farmers’ concerns, but this violation is absolutely unacceptable.” You will get results. ”
“This kind of blockade can never be tolerated,” Joachim Lukwied, president of the German Farmers’ Association, said in a statement Friday. He added: “Personal attacks, abuse, intimidation, coercion and violence are not right.”
Germany’s highest court has decided that 60 billion euros ($66 billion), originally intended to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, will be repurposed to fight climate change and modernize society. The reversal of the decision necessitated a budget review that included the disputed cuts. Country. This maneuver violated Germany’s strict self-imposed limits on debt growth.
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