Cross-border commuters making their way to Luxembourg on Monday morning were severely affected by protesting farmers, but blockades have since been lifted.
A nation-wide strike throughout Germany is currently set in motion for Monday. Farmers are also taking to the streets just across the Luxembourg border. Many motorway slip roads were blocked early in the morning, but have since reopened. The whole city of Trier will be affected by the blockade on Monday. According to the city, the 'Landwirtschaft verbindet Deutschland' ('Agriculture Unifies Germany') association has announced the closure of numerous motorway slip roads in Trier and surrounding areas. The police had authorised the demonstrators to occupy registered entrances for a maximum of one hour between 6am and 8am.
The Trier exit in the direction of Luxembourg (A64) was closed in the morning but opened around 8am. The convoy made its way towards Trier after.
In Perl, around 70-80 tractors gathered around 6am on Monday morning, and blocked traffic by repeatedly driving around the roundabout at the border bridge towards Schengen. This led to traffic jams.
Around 8am the farmers then made their way towards Trier and Saarbrücken, where larger demonstrations are planned. Trier is therefore blocked until the afternoon.
The protest is likely to grow larger than reports initially anticipated. Instead of the 500 tractors originally planned, the farmers' and winegrowers' association is now expecting 1,000 vehicles.
Farmers have been up in arms over government plans to withdraw tax breaks for the agricultural sector this year.
Thousands travelled to Berlin to protest the move in December, blocking roads with their tractors and dumping manure on the street. The display of disaffection precipitated the government to partially walk back the planned subsidy cuts on Thursday. A discount on vehicle tax for agriculture would remain in place, while a diesel subsidy would be phased out over several years instead of being abolished immediately, the government said.
The agriculture sector however said the move did not go far enough and urged the government to completely reverse the plans.
As the mood in parts of Germany grows tense in the run-up to the event, the German Farmers' Association has now warned demonstrators in advance against the use of extremist symbols. The homes of politicians are off-limits.
Various German media have previously reported that right-wing extremists and radical thinkers may attempt to undermine the protests. Whereas, at the root of the strike, farmers have been stirred into demonstrating due to cuts in agricultural subsidies.
