The Hague is preparing for an eventful demonstration day, with protests from both climate activists and farmers. The municipality fears a disruption of public order and safety and has now issued an emergency order. Tractors that want to enter the city are turned away or directed away from the city limits. On Saturday morning, dozens of tractors were already taken off the road on N11 near Alphen aan den Rijn, the police reported.
Farmers Defense Force (FDF) previously announced their largest demonstration ever in the Zuiderpark in The Hague. With this, FDF not only wants to denounce the nitrogen policy and the forced buy-out of farmers, it also wants to draw attention to all kinds of other social problems, including the surcharge affair and the gas crisis in Groningen. The action group hopes to attract 100,000 demonstrators to the park, but has indicated to come with 25,000 people, according to the municipality.
Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion will also take action in The Hague on Saturday. The group has indicated that it wants to block part of the A12 around noon. With the action, XR opposes fossil subsidies. According to the organization, the Netherlands gives about 17.5 billion euros in subsidies to fossil fuel projects every year, which is an effective policy to combat climate change.
The police have announced that they will act if criminal offenses are committed or agreements regarding demonstrations are not kept. However, demonstrators “always get the chance to end their action themselves first” and the police’s actions at demonstrations are aimed at de-escalation.
Although the municipality called on climate activists this week to demonstrate near The Hague Central station, Extinction Rebellion intends to continue the action on the A12. The action group expects more than 2000 participants for the demonstration. It is the sixth time that XR will block the A12. Some 1,000 activists attended the recent blockade last January, and 768 of them were arrested. At the same time, preparations are underway in the city for Sunday’s CPC Run on the Malieveld.
Read also: Logistical challenge for The Hague: what do you do with large demonstrations if there is already the City-Pier-City Loop?