Thousands of farmers have descended upon Berlin, staging a massive protest against proposed tax reforms.
The demonstration marked the culmination of a week-long series of protests that have rattled Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government.
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An estimated 5,000 vehicles, comprising 3,000 tractors and 2,000 trucks, lined the avenues leading to Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.
Approximately 10,000 people, predominantly farmers, waved German flags and expressed their discontent with the proposed tax changes.
The German government has already retreated on some aspects of the agricultural tax reforms.
The scrapping of a tax rebate on new agricultural vehicles and the phasing out of an agricultural diesel subsidy over several years have been put on hold.
Despite the concessions, farmers, supported by opposition conservatives and the far-right, argue that the government’s measures do not go far enough.
Many voiced concerns about the future viability of farming in Germany and warned of a potential increase in food imports if subsidies are not restored.
“Farmers will die out,” farmer Karl-Wilhelm Kempner on Sunday told Reuters.
“The population must understand that far more food will be imported” if subsidies are not restored, he said.
The opposition parties are divided on how to address farmers’ demands.
Suggestions range from financial rewards for humane animal husbandry to offering higher produce prices and reducing administrative overheads.
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