Today, farmers are protesting against the measures proposed to cut down on nitrogen emissions. The location of this protest is The Hague and the area around Bilthoven. The farmers are, however, not welcome at the Binnenhof or in the city centre and to ensure they don’t try their luck, the Ministry of Defence is supporting the police in cordoning off the city centre (including the Binnenhof) to large vehicles.
Originally, the farmers wanted to protest on the square at the Binnenhof- where all government buildings of parliament are situated. However, this is not allowed. The protest is, therefore, taking place at Koekamp, next to Malieveld and close to the city’s central station. There have already been reports that the farmers have gone against their agreement to stick to Koekamp and are riding their tractors on the close-by Malieveld. The police don’t have the equipment to stop them.
Early this morning, the police pulled over 15 farmers, with tractors and all, on the Utrechtsebaan. They wanted to go to the Binnenhof to protest. Thankfully, the farmers followed the police’s orders and were led to the gathering locations for the protest. The Armed Forces have placed heavy trucks at important points in the city to hold off tractors and thus act as flexible roadblocks.
As with the previous protest on October 1, this one is causing major traffic problems, especially in the Utrecht area. The protest started early this morning, with farmers driving to De Bilt to protest against the Public Health and Environment Institute’s nitrogen measurement methods, which they don’t trust. The protest then moved towards The Hague.
The A12 in the direction of The Hague has been closed off until Nootdorp. The traffic jam is huge right now, with about 100 kilometres of jams in total.