1/2 Photo: Bart Meesters/SQ Vision.
Farmers protested against the cabinet’s nitrogen plans along the route of the Vuelta on Saturday afternoon. With about thirty tractors, the peloton was waiting in the meadow along the Engelenseweg near Engelen, Den Bosch. As the riders passed, they honked loudly.
The protest was peaceful and cheerful, says Carolien van Gestel from Vlijmen, one of the demonstrators. “There was plenty of waving and honking back. And we also received support from other people who drove by.”
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty and that’s frustrating.”
“We have the idea that the government is gradually starting to tilt, but we are not there yet,” said Carolien. “There is still a lot of uncertainty and that is frustrating. We want to show that it is far from over as long as there is no definitive solution.”
De Vlijmense works for a dairy farmer and a pig farmer. Her husband is active in horticulture and the children are also agriculturally trained. “We see up close how much tension the situation entails,” she says.
“If we don’t do anything, we certainly won’t achieve anything.”
There are no concrete other actions yet, but they will come. “Usually they are set up within a few days. And then we make a statement in which we are not a burden to other people. Whether it yields anything is the question, but if we do nothing, we will certainly achieve nothing.”
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