You get used to it at Schiphol Airport: military police with machine guns in the departure hall and armored terrain vehicles in front of the door to deter possible terrorists. But today two sturdy shovels were added, dark blue painted bulldozers in front of the arrivals hall, to push any angry farmers with tractor and all off the driveway. A species Robot Wars on the A4. A sergeant next to his shovel: ‘I have no idea who will win that. Never tried.’
Monday was the day the authorities decided to take a stand against radical farmers. To clarify: this far and no further. Previously, the police opted for de-escalation: withdrawing, giving up equipment and understanding conversations with tractor drivers, even though they blocked highways and attacked drivers’ homes. Today the government draws a line.
It is not a matter of blocking distribution centers of supermarkets. The farmers could do their own thing there, resulting in financial damage to the shops. Albert Heijn and Picnic also canceled thousands of orders. The government’s boundaries apparently lie at infrastructure such as Schiphol Airport and the Port of Rotterdam. If necessary, in addition to shovels, the Marechaussee also has armored tracked vehicles with a dozer blade, and an engineer breakthrough tank of 62 tons and 1,500 hp can be borrowed from the Land Forces.
Atmosphere is calm
Today was also the day of the Battle of Schiphol which was cancelled. Many travelers (and journalists) booked a very expensive room in an airport hotel as a precaution, took the train or even the bicycle. In the latter case, it was clearly visible that the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, who is responsible for security at Schiphol, had drawn a wide ring around the airport: four-wheelers were waiting along supply roads to block tractors, concrete blocks had been laid on bicycle paths. A guard who has been waiting for hours: ‘I let them come now.’ That angry farmers chose Monday to block distribution centers of supermarket chains, highways, the Media Park and a waste processing company spread across the country, seems tactically sensible. The government cannot possibly put enforcers everywhere.
On an upper floor of the Queen Máxima Barracks next to Schiphol, the Marechaussee’s Large-Scale and Special Action Staff discusses the situation around five airports in the country. On a screen, the actions of farmers and fishermen appear as colored squares, and the position of friendly units as numbers. In Driebergen, the national police has set up a similar staff. ‘The situation around Schiphol is calm,’ says an intelligence officer. ‘There are supposed to be eighty tractors on their way to Rotterdam Airport, but I can’t confirm that.’ A colleague: ‘Well, we had seen eighty tractors.’ The atmosphere is calm during the safety briefing, only point of concern: the persistence of the Marechaussee.
‘How long will this deployment be?’, an officer wants to know. Do I have to cancel all courses? And what do we do with the Navy Days?’ Commander Peter de Bruin, a major at the head of the table: ‘Let’s not go cauliflower. We mustn’t make this bigger than it is.’ He says afterwards about the persistence: ‘We have enough people. But if this happens more often, it will come at the expense of other things.’
De-escalation and enforcement are not opposites
Among the travelers at Schiphol there is little understanding for the farmers’ campaigns. “It’s bad luck for them, but there’s no other way,” says a lady on her way to New Zealand. To be on the safe side, she came to Schiphol by train. ‘The environment cannot handle this way of farming.’ She acknowledges that flying to New Zealand is not good either. ‘I looked it up: the journey takes six weeks by boat.’ A 39-year-old ICT specialist on his way to Madrid for work thinks the farmers are going too far. ‘It’s okay to demonstrate, but don’t let that bother your compatriots. What do I have to do with their nitrogen emissions?’
According to Professor of Public Order & Hazard Management Otto Adang (Police Academy), de-escalation and enforcement are not opposites, but two sides of the same coin. “Every teacher or educator knows that.” Threatening and intimidating is different from protesting, according to the researcher. ‘Then you cross a border. That also applies to blocking vital infrastructure.’ At such a moment it is important, Adang says, that the government shows that you cannot get away with everything. ‘It’s a balancing act between empathy and setting boundaries. If you act too softly, you risk social outrage; if you act too harshly, the farmer can present himself as a victim and strengthen his mobilization power.’ The farmer also balances, Adang argues, because actions that are too harsh can lead to a loss of social support.
In front of Schiphol, the chief guard and his men wait in vain for the arrival of tractors. He does not expect that there will ever be a clash between shovel and tractor. “We’ll just drive up to them, block the road, and arrest the driver.” Moreover, the military police do not expect a farmer to risk his valuable tractor, uninsured on the highway, in a confrontation. “He just needs that thing the next day.”