800 farmers protest against austerity plans at tractor demonstrations

A good 800 farmers protested with their tractors in Leipzig and Chemnitz on Monday against the planned abolition of tax breaks by the traffic light coalition. The plans for agricultural diesel and vehicle tax exemptions must be withdrawn, said Marc Bernhardt, spokesman for the "Land schafft Verbindung" association, which organized the protest. Up to now, farms have been able to claim a partial refund of the energy tax on diesel. In addition, agricultural and forestry vehicles are exempt from motor vehicle tax.

According to the police, the protest march ran along the inner city ring road to the square in front of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal without any further incidents. According to a police spokeswoman, there were only a few traffic restrictions.

Franziska Schubert, Chairwoman of the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Saxon state parliament, said that the phase-out of climate-damaging subsidies was fundamentally necessary. "However, there are other and larger adjustments, including in tax law, which the FDP is obviously not prepared to make."

The agricultural policy spokesperson for Saxony's AfD parliamentary group emphasized that farmers are increasingly being driven into a corner. "Whether fertilizer restrictions, set-aside of arable land or cheap imports from abroad - our farmers can barely keep up on the international market."