Farmers' demonstration in Germany: traffic is feared to be affected

German farmers are demanding that the government scrap plans to cut agricultural subsidies. The farmer protests are expected to cause widespread traffic disruptions in some parts of the country on Monday.

Many German farmers gathered in the capital Berlin on Sunday to protest against government plans to cut subsidies. According to local newspaper Berliner Zeitung, the farmers' caravan entered Berlin at 17:30 local time. Farmers who arrived at Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate held a candlelight march around 11 p.m.

Why are farmers protesting?

Farmers are opposing plans by German Chancellor Olaf Schulz's coalition government to end agricultural subsidies. In Shultz's government, his party consists of a coalition of the Greens, the neoliberal Free Democrats, and the Social Democrats. On Thursday the government announced it was prepared to reverse some cuts to the subsidy scheme, but the German Farmers' Association (DBV) rejected that, saying it was insufficient. On Friday, a German Interior Ministry spokesman warned that anti-government and far-right forces could try to use the protests as a tool to advance their own interests. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner urged farmers to "go back", adding that agriculture was a "heavily subsidized sector." German newspaper Der Spiegel reported. The conservative opposition coalition CDU/CSU, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the right-wing populist Free Voters Party said they supported the farmers' protests.

Fear of traffic disruption in different parts of the country

A major thoroughfare connecting central Berlin and the western suburbs was closed to traffic ahead of the protests. The protests are expected to cause major disruptions to transport on Monday.

According to the Berliner Zeitung, the Ministry of Transport of the eastern state of Brandenburg has expressed concern that this could lead to disruptions in the delivery of general goods. To minimize the possibility of traffic disruptions, the state exempted the ban on truck movement from January 7, which is usually in force on Sundays and public holidays.

Authorities in the northern state of Hamburg have also warned of possible traffic chaos, as farmers from the state of Schleswig-Holstein are also due to arrive in the city for a rally.