The amount of nitrogen in Dutch soil, caused by intensive farming, now even threatens nature reserves
Translated by Thomas Ansell
A group of farmers under the Farmers Defence Force (FDF) flag have assembled in The Hague to protest against the Dutch government’s nitrogen regulations. Images show tightly-packed groups of people not wearing face-masks or keeping up social distancing- whilst the Omrop Fryslân reports one of the organisers of the FDF, Mick Tinga, saying “actually this is too few people. But these farmers are the ones that understand the problem”.
The farmers actually want to approach the King of the Netherlands to ask him not to sign off the law once it appears on his desk. That would likely trigger a constitutional crisis, as the Dutch royals have been part of a constitutional monarchy since 1815. Tinga: “if he doesn’t sign the law, then it does not apply. I think that he has the power to do that”.
Protests outside the royal palace are not allowed, and so the FDF have taken up residence at the Koekamp- and would like to further protest outside the Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel. This touches on the actual issue that faces farmers livelihoods, Tinga: “we farmers must have a fair price for our products. Supermarkets price produce five, six, or seven times higher than we get for them. We don’t find that fair”.
Image via Dutch Ministry of Defence on Wikimedia. License here.
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