First farmers are on their way to demonstrate

Defense trucks in the city center of The Hague

Defense trucks are parked in various places in The Hague on Wednesday morning, a reporter from NRC on sight. The vehicles are not blocking the roads, but are ready to close access to the city center if necessary due to threats. The police and the officers of the Mobile Unit are also available in various places, but the atmosphere in The Hague is still pleasant.

Tractors on the highway, Rijkswaterstaat calls on not to travel to the Central Netherlands by car

Rijkswaterstaat calls on Wednesday morning just before 08.00 not by car to Central Netherlands to travel. “Several groups of tractors are driving towards the center of the country,” said the traffic service. “This causes a lot of delay on various highways.”

Although Rijkswaterstaat has called on farmers not to drive on the highway by tractor, not all demonstrators adhere to this. Tractors drive in any case on the A2 at Deil and Breukelen, on the A6 at Sint Nicolaasga, the A16 at Dordrecht, the A27 at Gorinchem, the A32 at Wolvega and the A50 at the Ewijk junction. In any case, traffic jams have already arisen on the A27 and A2, according to Rijkswaterstaat.

First farmers are on their way to demonstrate

The first farmers are on their way on Wednesday morning to demonstrate against the cabinet’s nitrogen plans. Some immediately went to the Gelderland town of Stroe, where the largest protests are expected. Several dozen demonstrators have gathered on the Malieveld in The Hague, where farmers had announced that they would have ‘breakfast’. Then they would also go to Stroe. In addition to farmers, sympathizers and a number of MPs are also present at Malieveld.

Although the farmers have been urged by the police and Rijkswaterstaat not to drive on the highway with tractors, this still happens in some places. On the Zeeland part of the A58, a group of farmers would have been accompanied by the police this morning, reports Broadcasting Zeeland† According to Rijkswaterstaat, “a few hundred” tractors were also driving on the A2 in Brabant this morning, ANP reports.

The end of the A12 towards The Hague is closed, according to a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat. If you come across tractors on the road, it is recommended to slow down and keep your distance. “Where tractors drive, we do see nuisance. Traffic then piles up and drives slowly.”

On the Malieveld in The Hague is NRCeditor Titia Ketelaar present:

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‘Almost half of the Dutch support protest actions by farmers’

Public support for the farmers’ protests seems to have increased somewhat in recent months. Out a poll by research agency I&O Research commissioned by newspaper Fidelity it turned out on Wednesday that about 45 percent of the Dutch support the actions, in October last year this was still 38 percent. The research also shows that 59 percent of the Dutch are concerned about the consequences of nitrogen emissions on the environment, compared to 67 percent in October.

Also read: How the Netherlands ended up in this nitrogen crisis, and how to get out of it

The nitrogen theme can count on mixed reactions from voters: voters from the PVV, FVD, SGP and BBB are hardly concerned about emissions. At the VVD, 56 percent are concerned about the environmental consequences and among the CDA supporters this is 69 percent. Right-wing voters have more understanding for farmers than more progressive voters. The voters of the Party for the Animals, Volt and GroenLinks have the least support for farmers. On Thursday, the House will debate the nitrogen crisis.

Welcome to this blog

Two weeks ago, the cabinet had a hard message for many farmers: in some areas nitrogen emissions must be reduced significantly before 2030, and for that, Dutch agriculture has to change drastically. Nitrogen compounds such as ammonia (particularly from livestock) and nitrogen oxides (traffic and industry) are harmful to nature. European nature legislation stipulates how high nitrogen emissions may be in the vicinity of so-called protected Natura 2000 areas – standards that the Netherlands does not yet meet.

Although the provinces will have to make clear in the coming year how they want to reduce nitrogen emissions, Minister of Nature and Nitrogen Christianne van der Wal (VVD) said when the targets per region were presented that the livestock population was estimated to increase by about 30 percent. must shrink. This led to anger among farmers, who feel threatened in their very existence and who have demonstrated several times with tractors throughout the country in recent years.

In protest against the nitrogen plans presented, the farmers had announced that they would also take to the road this Wednesday. The largest demonstration has been announced in the village of Stroe in the Gelderland municipality of Barneveld, one of the provinces where nitrogen emissions must fall sharply. There may also be demonstrations in other places on Wednesday, such as on the Malieveld in The Hague. Rijkswaterstaat warned on Tuesday about heavy traffic, traffic jams and closed slip roads.

In this blog does NRC Wednesday 22 June report of the farmers’ protests against the government’s nitrogen plans.

Read more about the nitrogen crisis: How the Netherlands ended up in this nitrogen crisis, and how to get out of it