BERLIN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- German farmers protested with hundreds of tractors in the capital Berlin on Monday against the government's planned abolition of the agricultural diesel subsidy and vehicle tax exemption.
The cuts were announced as part of the government's plan to save the budget after the failed reallocation of 60 billion euros (65.4 billion U.S. dollars) in COVID-19 relief funds for the country's Climate and Transformation Fund (CTF).
"We will not accept this," Joachim Rukwied, president of the farmers' association, told a rally at the Brandenburg Gate. If the plans were not revoked, German farmers would be "present everywhere" with further protests in January "in a way that the country has never experienced before."
The abolition of the regulations on agricultural diesel and the motor vehicle tax exemption for agricultural vehicles would cost the sector one billion euros per year. "Enough is enough, too much is too much," Rukwied said.
Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir said he understood the farmers' anger and promised to stand up for their concerns within the government.
