Germany Sticks to Subsidy Cuts as Farmer Protests Block Roads
- Government plans to end subsidy on diesel used in agriculture
- Tractors blocked highways, affecting commuters and factories
Farmers park tractors at the Brandenburg Gate to protest planned cuts to state subsidies in Berlin, Germany on Jan. 8.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected calls to make further concessions to farmers as protests caused widespread transport disruptions across Europe’s largest economy.
Farmers took to the streets with tractors on Monday and blocked major roads and highways — including in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg — criticizing plans to end a subsidy on diesel used in agriculture. Still, Scholz said the government was sticking with a plan agreed on by the three coalition parties last week.