Dutch urged to postpone trips to Belgium as protesting farmers block border crossings

Rijkswaterstaat advised road users who must go to Belgium to postpone their trip if possible. Several border crossings between the Netherlands and Belgium are still blocked by Belgian farmers on Friday morning. There are possibilities to get into Belgium, a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat said. “But we don’t know how quickly the situation can change.”

Around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, there were still blockades on the A4 between Bergen op Zoom and Antwerp, the A16 between Breda and Antwerp, and the A67 between Eindhoven and Antwerp, an ANWB spokesperson reported. Rijkswaterstaat has closed the highways at logical points in the Netherlands due to the blockades so that traffic can move freely, the spokesperson said.

Detours can be made via Limburg via the A2 between Maastricht and Liège, the A76 between Stein and Maasmechelen, and the Western Scheldt tunnel, the N62. The ANWB warned of a lot of extra travel time for road users affected by the closures. “But it is never busy during the Friday morning rush hour. It can be very annoying, especially for the logistics sector.”

Locally, the blockades could also lead to extra traffic on the road, he warned. According to the ANWB, the blockades are mainly causing traffic jams in Belgium and not so much in the Netherlands. Only at Zundert, next to the A16, did the ANWB see a lot of cut-through traffic crossing the border from the Netherlands early on Friday morning.

The farmers are protesting against EU agricultural rules that they believe are too strict. Farmers also gathered at several locations in the Netherlands on Thursday evening to take action. In Amsterdam, 11 to 15 tractors were parked on Dam Square, a police spokesperson said. According to him, it was a “relaxed demonstration” that did not lead to disruptions. The farmers left the city via the Piet Hein tunnel.

In Arnhem, an estimated 150 to 180 farmers came to the Gelderland provincial government building, a spokesperson for the province said. There, the demonstrators, including children, were received “with soup and bitterballen” by agricultural deputy Harold Zoet (BBB) and Gelderland’s Commissioner of the King, Henri Lenferink. “The farmers have said they’ve had enough,” said the spokesperson. They also presented a manifesto to the provincial government, in which they called, among other things, for the lifting of the fertilizer bans on provincial agricultural lands that farmers have on lease.

The deputy immediately responded to the manifesto. According to him, farmers are of great value to the countryside, and the province is committed to them, but many measures remain necessary. “We must look with the government and with Europe at how we can restore future prospects for farmers,” the deputy’s spokesperson explained.

In Groningen, campaigning farmers presented the same manifesto to deputy Henk Emmens (BBB), who has agriculture in his portfolio. Emmens invited them to his office for an extensive discussion on Friday afternoon. “I understand what the farmers say and that it is unacceptable,” said Emmens.

The farmers in Groningen came to the city with about 10 to 15 tractors. The provincial government building is located in the city center, but the farmers did not go there, said a spokesperson for the municipality. “In good consultation between the municipality and the police, they were parked outside the Diepenring.” according to him, there was minimal inconvenience. The farmers left again around 9:00 p.m.

There were also several farmers with tractors at the distribution center of supermarket chain Jumbo in Woerden on Thursday evening. The atmosphere was pleasant, a police spokesperson said.