German Farmers Fed Up with Do-Nothing Politicians

Jan. 25, 2020 (EIRNS)—In what has been observed in Germany recently, where leading politicians attend public events, protesting farmers also made themselves known at the Hesse state CDU New Year’s session in Künzell, near Fulda: Some 150 farmers, with about 100 tractors, came to raise their voice against excessive EU regulations against the use of fertilizers and weed killers. Hesse State Minister President Volker Bouffier and other top Christian Democrats assured the farmers they shared their concerns, but begged off that they were unable to change policy in Brussels—and offered more discussions with the farmers in the near future.

Farmers welcomed their sentiment, but warned “I hope that actions finally follow the words. If not, we will be back,” Peter Kömpel, a leading activist with the agriculture protest group “Land Schafft Verbindung” who also led the tractorcade in Künzell, told the media.

Farmers there and at other protest events have pointed out that politicians always support EU regulations, but remain inactive when it comes to launching real investments for agriculture. “The rural areas aren’t offered any money, it’s really bad,” media quoted a farmer from Thuringia to the Green Week agricultural fair in Berlin. “And then they destroy it with wind farms. Germany can be glad it doesn’t have French farmers. They have very different kinds of protests.” (They bring their cows, and their cows bring manure.)

Farmers also criticize the mainstream media which inaccurately report about the protests, and talking about