What do the protests say about the mood in Germany?
The farmers' protests in Germany against the traffic light coalition government's plans to cut subsidies came to an end on Monday with a large rally in Berlin. The main issue was subsidies for diesel, which the government under Olaf Scholz still plans to axe despite the protests. Commentators from other European countries assess the mood in the country based on the protests.
Dissatisfaction with the government
The protests are a warning to the traffic light government, writes Der Standard:
“It's not just German farms that are seething with anger. Many Germans back the farmers' protests and there is enormous dissatisfaction with the traffic light government across all professional groups and social classes. ... The protests should be a warning to the traffic light coalition. This time it was mainly farmers who took to the streets. If the government's work doesn't improve, Germany could experience protests on an entirely different scale.”
Government over a barrel
Tageblatt expects nothing more from this government:
“The way it has taken decisions on agricultural diesel has shown that the coalition does not learn from its mistakes. You can make a political mistake. ... But making the same mistake again and again is fatal. The coalition already made a huge mess of communicating its heating law, which upset the entire country. The same thing happened with the axing of tax relief for farmers - first a decision was made overnight, then there was squabbling, and eventually an explanation came. If this doesn't change, and it honestly does not look like it will, the traffic light coalition will remain a helpless government pushed around by others. But presumably only until the general elections in 2025.”
More and more like France
Axess casts a critical eye at the Federal Republic of Germany:
“As if the Germans' patience hadn't already been tested enough, the country was recently paralysed by a nationwide train strike. After three days of strikes trains are running again, but the conflict is far from over. ... The infrastructure in large parts of Germany is in a deplorable state. The fact that neighbouring France is marked by social unrest and strikes is nothing new. What is new is that Germany seems to be becoming more and more like its neighbour in this respect. The idea of Germany as an 'anchor of stability' in the centre of Europe feels more outdated than it has for a long time.”
Disproportionate and dangerous
The Tages-Anzeiger sees a threat to democracy:
“The protests, which are to last for a week, are completely disproportionate in scale and tone. Farmers are allowed to demonstrate as citizens, as employees and as entrepreneurs - that is part of democracy. But those who fight only for themselves without moderation and consideration, who have no qualms about using subversive slogans or forming alliances with radical right-wing forces, end up jeopardising democracy. Some farmers are clearly driven by a desire for demise.”
Use subsidies to set the right course
The Frankfurter Rundschau sympathises with the protesters:
“The demand for cheap food has led to farmers often no longer being able to make a living from their products and thus requiring considerable subsidies. It's therefore entirely understandable that they react particularly sensitively to cuts to these subsidies, which they perceive as a 'sacrifice' at their cost. However, simply caving in to their demands cannot be the end of the debate. The state must pay attention to where it steers the agricultural sector with its subsidies - if possible it should be towards an environmental policy that reduces the use of pesticides.”
Far-right overtones
The demonstrators are driven by extremist ideologies, Večernji list warns:
“'The time will come when the traitors to the people are put on trial,' shouted Max Schreiber, who is considered a right-wing extremist. Some German media have written that extremist parties are trying to turn the demonstrations into a tractor revolution leading to a coup d'état. The demonstrators criticise the government for its actions during the pandemic, for its migration policy and for its aid for Ukraine, and often glorify the AfD. Stickers saying 'Send the Greens to the Eastern Front' are also noteworthy. By no means pleasant for Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, the Green ministers.”
Expand financial room for manoeuvre
The German government must free itself from the austerity constraints of the debt brake, The Guardian insists:
“The party likely to profit most from resulting social strife is the far right Alternative für Deutschland, currently polling second nationally and leading in three states due to hold elections this year. In order to keep different sections of society on board during the green transition, and address structural economic problems following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government desperately needs greater financial room for manoeuvre. ... If the government sticks to a fiscal dogma that is inappropriate for the times, it will do nothing to lower the temperature.”
The Czech Republic should watch closely
Lidové noviny notes:
“From the Czech point of view, the main issue seems to be the extent to which German farmers will also block the border crossings with their tractors. But we should also be interested in the anti-government protest as such. After all, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is facing similar problems and budgetary constraints to those faced by Prime Minister Petr Fiala. And in both countries, voters, including their own, are turning their backs on the government. Fiala can at least be glad that he has to settle disputes with cultivated doctors or teachers, and not with rougher groups like farmers or train drivers.”
Berlin needs to come up with a constructive response
The Spectator sympathises with the farmers' demands:
“Removing essential subsidies without consultation is not only pulling the rug out from under their feet but a breach of the democratic contract between the government and the electorate - the very thing the disruptive farmers stand accused of. ... If the German government can't or won't come up with a more constructive response to the protest than condemnation, it needs to be prepared for more desperate acts of protest from its farming communities. ... In the Netherlands, a similar lack of respect and care for the agricultural sector has led to repeated disruptive action by farmers.”
Come off it!
A considerable part of the agricultural sector is actually doing quite well, Der Tagesspiegel stresses:
“After decades of structural change, which has undoubtedly been painful in many areas, this is a very strong industry which also receives a lot more in the way of subsidies, grants and loans than other small and medium-sized business sectors. From Monday onwards, it won't be old tractors trundling to the protest sites, but rather fast and expensive high-tech vehicles. ... It makes you want to shout: come off it. The traffic-light coalition, it has to be said, has done this. Now it's the farmers' turn.”
As divided as the US and France
The blockade of a ferry carrying German Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck went too far, says the Neue Zürcher Zeitung:
“The farmers' action is heating up the debate climate in Germany in a way that is reminiscent of deeply divided America or even France. ... Habeck and the entire traffic-light coalition have certainly played their part in damaging the discourse: with their deafness, their ideological politics and their rhetorical arrogance. Never before has a German government been so unpopular, and it's easy to see why. On this January evening in wet and dark Schlüttsiel, however, it was the demonstrators who gave the impression that all dialogue was pointless.”
We should seek to be self-sufficient
The farmers' protests pose questions for us all, Berliner Zeitung points out:
“How much agriculture do we want, and what is it worth to us? ... If you only ever look at prices and the global market, you end up with cheap products produced in countries with much lower environmental standards and often under disgraceful social conditions. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have also shown how quickly supply bottlenecks and hoarding arise when the usual supply chains from low-wage countries break down. This highlights how important it is to be self-sufficient. If at the end of the protests there is a discussion not just about farmers' diesel subsidies, but also about the question of self-sufficiency, the protest will have been worthwhile.”