German farmers will take to the streets around Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate today in a mass protest demanding a review of plans for higher taxes on agricultural activities.
Farmers with 3,000 tractors, 2,000 trucks and 10,000 people from across the country are expected to take part in the protests, capping a week of nationwide unrest that has further strained Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition as it grapples with the budget and growing far-right forces.
“Farmers will die out,” said one of the participants of the protest, Karl-Wilhelm Kempner, on Sunday as he boarded the bus in Cologne that was going to the protests.
He emphasized that the population should understand that much more food will be imported if subsidies are not returned.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner plans to address the protesters, and the leaders of the coalition parties have invited the protest leaders to a meeting.
Disruption caused by protests and rail strikes last week hurt coalition parties in the polls and boosted the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
