German farmers drive thousands of tractors into Berlin in a protest against fuel subsidy cuts

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Farmers have driven thousands of tractors into Berlin in the climax of a week of demonstrations against a plan to scrap tax breaks on the diesel they use, a protest that has tapped into wider discontent with Germany’s government. Columns of tractors rolled through the capital ahead of the demonstration at the landmark Brandenburg Gate. Over the past week, farmers have blocked highway entrances and slowed traffic across Germany with their protests, intent on pushing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to abandon the planned cuts entirely. They’re not satisfied with concessions the government has already made. The plan to cut the tax breaks resulted from the need to fill a large hole in the 2024 budget.