Protest - More than 200 farmers drive tractors on highways
In the early evening hours in North Rhine-Westphalia, more than 200 farmers drove their tractors onto highways or blocked a highway access road. The highways 40, 57 and 61 as well as the access road to the A560 were affected. A spokesman for the Viersen district police assumed that this was a protest action directed against the German government's planned cuts in subsidies for agricultural diesel and vehicle tax. The WDR had previously reported.
According to a spokeswoman for the Wesel police, there were considerable obstructions during the action on the A57 in the direction of Cologne. There alone, 70 tractors were involved. The vehicles were diverted off the highway in Kamp-Lintfort. The public prosecutor's office has been called in. It is now being investigated whether the assembly is criminally relevant due to the obstruction of traffic or whether the assembly law has been violated. The personal details of the participants are being taken.
More than 30 tractors were stopped on the A40 in Neukirchen-Vluyn. Personal details were also taken there. The extent to which they had previously obstructed traffic in the direction of Cologne was not initially known.
On the A61 near Viersen, 20 tractors briefly paralyzed traffic in the evening. The section between the Süchteln and Viersen junctions was affected. Here, too, the vehicles were diverted off the highway.
According to the police, farmers in Voerde had tried to get onto the A3 with around 20 vehicles. This was prohibited by the police. The tractors then drove to Dinslaken under police escort, but did not cross the highway.
In Hennef, around 70 tractors blocked the end of the A560. The action was only ended after almost an hour and a half, according to a police spokesperson in Siegburg.
Earlier on Monday, thousands of farmers had already called for the austerity plans to be withdrawn at a demonstration in Berlin.
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- The farmers steered their tractors onto the highways, causing significant disruptions.
- WDR had previously reported about the planned cuts in subsidies and the potential protests.
- The action on the A57 involved around 70 tractors, causing significant obstructions.
- The police in Wesel are investigating whether the assembly is criminally relevant due to traffic obstruction.
- On the A40, more than 30 tractors were stopped, with details taken about their potential involvement in traffic disruptions.
- The Federal Government's austerity plans were the target of protests, with farmers driving their tractors onto highways and blocking access roads.
- The North Rhine-Westphalia Police had to deal with numerous incidents of farmers trying to join highways with their tractors.
- In Cologne, during the evening hours, there were reports of farmers participating in demonstrations against the proposed vehicle tax increases.
Source: www.stern.de
