Dutch resistance isn’t the brand it once was
Owners of shops in the village of Klazienaveen in the province of Drenthe made it onto newspaper front pages this morning with an act of Civil Disobedience that Gandhi would be proud of. Shopkeepers opened their shops in protest against the current lockdown. They were the only stores with non-essential products in the Netherlands that were open, but just hours after the opening, the police stopped the protest.
A few dozen shopkeepers in Klazienaveen in Drenthe were open on Tuesday morning in protest against the Dutch government’s Coronavirus policy. Fashion stores, a sports shop and the local Bruna stationery shop were opened, reports Nu.nl
The shops opened at 09:00, and were visited by police at 10:00, before closing following an official local Gemeente warning at 10:15. No fines were issued.
According to Van der Velde, the protest was necessary to prevent more entrepreneurs from going bankrupt. “We have no choice but to do this, because with the current rules from The Hague it is impossible to generate a decent turnover.”
The retailers do not intend to take any further action. In the hour that the shops were open it became quite busy inside, thereby perfecty demonstrating why indoor shopping is considered a Coronavirus risk. It is not clear how much the shops brought in.
