Germany’s Scholz warns of extremists stoking rage as farmers protest and discontent is high

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for calm and a readiness to accept compromises on Saturday as the country faces protests by farmers angry about a plan to cut their fuel subsidies. The German chancellor said in a video message that “we took the farmers’ arguments to heart” and insisted the government came up with “a good compromise,” though farmers continue to insist on fully reversing the subsidy cuts. Authorities have warned that far-right groups and others could try to capitalize on the farmers’ protests, and the demonstrations faced scrutiny after a much-criticized earlier incident in which a group of farmers prevented Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from disembarking a ferry in a small North Sea port as he returned from a personal trip to an offshore island. Scholz thanked the head of the German Farmers’ Association for distancing himself clearly from “extremists and some copycats who call for an ‘uprising’ and waffle about ‘overthrowing the system.’” “If protests that are legitimate in themselves tip over into sweeping rage or contempt for democratic processes and institutions, then we all lose,” he said.