Burning tyres, dumped manure: German farmers continue protests
Protesting German farmers set fire to tyres and dumped liquid manure on the road during a protest in the central German city of Magdeburg in the early hours of Thursday.
The protest came amid an escalation of weeks-long demonstrations against cuts to fuel subsidies.
Police in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia, meanwhile, launched a criminal probe into dumped hale bales, heaps of manure and burning tyres that blocked entrances to motorways early on Thursday morning.
Authorities suspect angry farmers are responsible and are investigating on suspicion of dangerous interference with road traffic and possible environmental offences.
"I say clearly and unequivocally: anyone who creates obstacles on roads where high speeds are sometimes permitted and endangers others is clearly going too far! We can count ourselves lucky that nobody was injured," said Lower Franconian police chief Detlev Tolle.
In Magdeburg, Farmers blockaded a road in an industrial area in the north of the city overnight, as a dpa reporter witnessed, and police and emergency services repeatedly extinguished tyres that had been set alight.
The local state agricultural industry group, the Saxony-Anhalt Farmers' Association, said that the protest showed the extent of the frustration within the sector.
The German government plans to phase out a subsidy on diesel fuel for the agricultural sector as part of efforts to close a major gap in upcoming budgets.
The move has been met with outrage by farmers, who argue that the subsidy cuts will add to financial difficulties and make it harder to compete with farmers elsewhere in the European Union.
"As long as this situation persists, we will have to expect further protests," said a spokesman for the local farmers' association.
On Wednesday, farmers in the state had once again staged protests and blocked almost all motorway entrances for hours with parked tractors and other heavy farm vehicles.
