Berlin faced a virtual standstill as thousands of farmers rallied against tax increases and subsidy cuts, marking the culmination of a week-long series of protests that added pressure to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition.
The streets leading to Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate were congested with trucks and tractors on Monday, with over 10,000 farmers converging on the capital in collaboration with the German freight industry, according to police reports.
Numerous protests are scheduled across the country as Scholz’s coalition grapples with a budget crisis, compounded by official data revealing Germany’s first economic contraction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
Alongside the iconic Brandenburg Gate, a convoy of up to 500 tractors lined up daily in freezing pre-dawn temperatures last week. To stay warm, farmers lit fires and enjoyed hot beverages, CNN reported.
Major road blockades have spread across cities from east to west, including Hamburg, Cologne, Bremen, Nuremberg, and Munich, with up to 2,000 tractors registered for each protest.
Beyond urban areas, Germany’s high-speed motorways have also become targets for protesters, causing significant disruptions to traffic flow.
Written by B.C. Begley
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B.C. Begley 