Parliament experts get safety training amid violent protests; Debate set for Thursday
Parliamentarians who speak on nitrogen and agriculture received an email with safety instructions from the Tweede Kamer's Security Authority on Wednesday. Last week, all faction leaders also received such an email. The Tweede Kamer will debate the intimidating and rioting farmers' protests with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz very soon, likely Thursday evening.
Farmers with “at least 50 tractors” blocked the A1 highway near Oldenzaal on Wednesday afternoon, Rijkswaterstaat said. They’re blocking the road from the German border towards Hengelo. Traffic is backing up behind the blockade, with delays of around half an hour.
The debate follows farmers showing up at the home of Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal, breaking through a police barricade to do so, on Tuesday evening. Protesters also intimidated CDA parliamentarian Derk Boswijk's family at his home. Boswijk wasn't home then, but his children, aged 4 and 7, were, he said on Twitter.
The email sent to involved parliamentarians instructed them how to act if they faced an unwanted home visit. In such situations, they are advised not to open the door and call emergency number 112 immediately, sources confirmed after reports by NOS. A spokesperson for the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, confirmed the email but would not comment on the content.
CDA MP Henri Bontenbal said that the farmers’ actions go “way too far.” “That also affects us as a party.”
The riots are not only a threat to individual politicians but “to democracy as a whole,” said GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver, who requested the debate. “It’s getting completely out of hand. We have to draw a line.”
“Most reasonable people” disapprove of what the intimidating farmers are doing,” said ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers.
The same goes for “99 percent of farmers,” PVV leader Gert Wilders added.
Caroline Plas of the BBB “strongly” disapproves of the actions and distances herself from them.
Reporting by ANP
