On Thursday, over 100 farmers prevented German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from disembarking from a ferry in Schluettsiel in northern Germany. It as a protest against the government’s agricultural policy.
The incident occurred just hours after the government partially backtracked on its proposal to cut agricultural subsidies to farmers. The proposal unveiled last month is part of a package to plug a 17 billion euro financial hole in Germany’s budget. Something that has caused great anger among German farmers.
On Thursday, the government partially backed away from the proposal. An exemption from car tax for agricultural vehicles and also the tax credits for agricultural vehicles using diesel would be retained.
But it was not enough, according to the farmers, who demanded that the government back away completely from the proposal. To disperse the protesters, the police had to use pepper spray.