The Dutch farmers have characterised the first round of negotiations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte as disappointing, with some declaring “stronger” actions will follow the meeting.
On Friday, the first round of talks were held in Utrecht between major farming organisations including LTO, which represents around 35,000 farmers, and the globalist government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his hand-picked “mediator”, former deputy prime minister Johan Remkes.
Rutte apologised to the farmers, according to public broadcaster RTV Drenthe, for causing “great confusion” over the so-called “nitrogen card”, laying out the areas that would have to cease farming activity as a result of the EU-based ‘wildlife protection’ scheme that the Dutch government has used to justify plans to cut nitrogen emissions in half by 2030.
The plan could see as much as 30 per cent of farms shut down, which some have claimed is nothing more than an attempt by the state to grab land that has been held in private ownership for generations.
Despite admitting that the map laid out by the government was inaccurate and led to “misunderstandings” amongst farmers, the globalist prime minister refused to back away from his 2030 agenda, much to the dismay of the farming organisations.
Rutte described the meeting as “an open conversation” that had displayed “a lot of emotions and great concerns”.
However, farmers were more direct in sharing their disappointment over the meeting.
Bart Kemp, a farmer from Ede, told the regional public broadcaster Omroep Gelderlan that he expects a “beautiful, positive action” to be held on Saturday, saying: “There will be tractors, and farmers who hand out products. And I expect there will also be stronger actions.”
Mark van den Oever of Farmers Defence Force said: “If I get a little taste of the mood, I think you can get ready for the hardest actions FDF has ever taken… We’re not going to dwell on that, but we’re definitely going to escalate.”
Both before and after the meeting on Friday, farmers were witnessed setting bales of hay on fire on motorways throughout the country, as well as dumping waste on highways to serve as makeshift road blockades. The protests, which have now entered their third month, have seen farmers use tractors to block off key infrastructure such as airports.
Last week, a group of farmers blocked the entrance to a paper mill to demonstrate against the apparent hypocrisy of the government’s nitrogen limits, given that the factory emits more nitrogen than any farm in the region, yet was not threatened with being shut down under the green push.
While the protests have been disruptive, they have been mostly peaceful. However, police forces have been accused of being heavy-handed in cracking down on the farmers, with a teenage boy nearly being shot by one officer last month for driving a tractor “threateningly“.
Last week, a group of officers in Almelo were filmed beating protesters with batons as they had gathered to defend a mural outside the town hall which read “no farmers, no food”.