Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir presents himself as a caretaker to the farmers in Erlenbach, Swabia. He shifts the blame for the current situation to another party.
January 10, 2024, 11:32 am
Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (right) speaks at the citizens’ dialogue in Erlenbach with Christian Coenen (left), first chairman of the farmers’ movement Land Creates Connections. © Sebastian Lock for ZEIT ONLINE
When Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir steps onto the stage, boos ring out. “Get away!” some shout. Tuesday evening in the Sulmtalhalle in Erlenbach, a Swabian wine-growing community near Heilbronn. Around 700 people are in the hall. At the front, most of them are wearing suits with name tags; they are members of the Green Party, of which Özdemir is also a member. At the back there are winemakers, dairy farmers and foresters in work trousers and steel-toed shoes.
The Greens clap as Özdemir reaches the lectern. But they don’t infect anyone with it. Then Özdemir begins his speech in the deepest Swabian. “We live in a constitutional state. Politicians sometimes have to endure icy winds. Sometimes they get beaten up for things they didn’t even decide on,” he says, referring to himself.