He believes that the announced nitrogen policy should not be taken for granted. “The flag campaign symbolizes an expression of dissatisfaction. They hang in every rural municipality. That shows that not only the farmers, but the entire environment does not agree with it.”
The flags temporarily disappeared for the war commemoration of Monday 15 August. The municipality and the farmers in Nijeveen were both of the opinion that the use of the reversed Dutch tricolor is incompatible with this day. Several veterans are disturbed by the way in which the red-white-blue cloth is ‘abused’.
“We have respect for the veterans and soldiers of our country, and no disrespect for the flag either. But this is an expression for us that we are in need,” Ten Hoorn Boer explains. And for the time being, they will remain upside down in Nijeveen for a while, he says. “Until we are listened to in The Hague and a solution is found for the nitrogen problem.”