farmer protest dutch netherlands
FILE PHOTO: 27th July 2022 - Firefighters at the scene as farmers set fire to manure and hay bales during a protest along the A50 in Apeldoorn
(EPA)
Cars crashed into tires and other garbage piled on a highway in the northern Netherlands in the early hours of Thursday, police said, as protests by radical farmers against government plans to rein in nitrogen emissions continued.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte branded the protests "unacceptable."


Comment: This is the guy who is actively pushing calling to throw vast numbers of farmers out of business. And, apparently, these fires were a response to his recent comments ridiculing the plight of farmers.


Police in the northern province of Friesland said nobody was injured when several cars were involved in an accident caused by dumped garbage, but warned motorists to be alert to "extremely dangerous situations" caused by the farmers' protest actions.

A handful of new protests took place overnight, including farmers burning hay bales near a major highway, despite police and security authorities appealing to farmers Wednesday to halt the dumping.

"Protesting is a fundamental right and as long as it stays within the limits of the law, a lot is possible," the emergency services said in a joint statement. But they said the latest actions "seriously endanger road safety and can lead to life-threatening situations for road users."


Comment: You know what's more dangerous than these protests? Famine.


In a sign of the increasingly radicalized farmer protests, cleanup operations have been hampered by intimidation of contractors hired to clear roads and by the presence of asbestos in some of the piles of debris dumped on roads.


Comment: As for intimidation: at the beginning of these protests a 16 year old farmer was shot at by police whilst driving his tractor, and for no valid reason.


"Wilfully endangering others, damaging our infrastructure and threatening people who help clean up is beyond all limits," Rutte said in a tweet.


Comment: Rutte''s comments more correctly describe himself and his policies.


"These life-threatening actions must stop. There are plenty of other ways to express your dissatisfaction within the law. Most farmers do that," he added.


Comment: Most farmers did that, and they were ignored.


The farmers are angry at government targets for reining in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia that they say threaten to decimate the farming industry and their way of life.


Comment: The farming industry has been actively dismantled over many years, however it seems that, now, the establishment in the West is in a hurry to finish the job; becoming more brazen, but equally slopping, in the process.


The ruling coalition wants to cut emissions of pollutants by 50% nationwide by 2030 to improve soil, air and water quality in an EU nation known for its intensive farming practices. It has called on provincial authorities to draw up plans to reduce emissions and earmarked an extra 24.3 billion euros ($24.6 billion) to fund the changes.