Farmers are protesting against the cabinet’s nitrogen plans and urge Agriculture Minister Jaimi van Essen to withdraw them. Groups including Agractie, the dairy farmers’ union, and the fishermen’s action group EMK say the plans threaten their permits and future operations.
At Avelingen West, near the access ramp beside the Merwedebrug, an ANP reporter saw around twenty tractors. Protesters carried inverted Dutch flags and signs with messages such as ‘Help’ and ‘#Trotsopdeboer’. Many families joined the demonstration. Several dozen tractors stood on the opposite side of the Merwedebrug. Farmers also gathered on the Jan Blankenbrug near Nieuwegein, placing tractors on the cycle path along the bridge. About fifteen tractors lined up at the Moerdijkbrug.
A spokesperson for the organisation said the activists chose not to drive onto bridges or highways, unlike during earlier protests. “This is the start of the actions. We want to keep it public-friendly, because we desperately need the public,” the spokesperson said. They added that the group may organise more actions if their demands remain unmet. Protesters also announced a nationwide demonstration day on 14 August in Den Bosch.
The action group plans to speak out on Prinsjesdag. “Perhaps a few tractors will head to The Hague, but we have seen before that that doesn’t have much effect. Before they even get into the city, they are already pulled over,” the spokesperson said. During a protest in early July, held around a House of Representatives debate on nitrogen policy, police allowed a maximum of twenty tractors into the city.
Farmers’ organisations also plan protests later on Monday in Zutphen and Borculo in Gelderland, and in Rossum and Hardenberg in Overijssel.
@ANP | News Brainport
