Farmers Defy Tractor Ban, Descend on Dutch Capitol to Protest Green Agenda Cull
by AP and Jack Montgomery
Farmers drove tractors toward The Hague early Saturday in defiance of a ban on the heavy vehicles imposed ahead of a protest against the government’s plan to reduce nitrate emissions, with some calling for a Nexit (Dutch exit from the European Union).
While Amsterdam is the official capital of the Netherlands, The Hague is its administrative capitol, hosting its executive, legislature, and highest court, as well as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
The municipal government imposed an emergency order in the city on a day when thousands of farmers were set to gather in a park and climate activists from the Extinction Rebellion group were also planning a protest action on a major road. Authorities placed army trucks near some crossroads ready to block the streets if tractors tried to drive into the city centre.
The demonstrations come days before Dutch voters go to the polls in provincial elections Wednesday that indirectly also elect the national parliament’s upper house and could have an effect on proposals for reducing nitrate use, driven by European Union diktats and likely to inflict a heavy blow on farmers or force them out of business altogether.