Dutch PM slams farmers for ‘intimidating’ top minister with burning torches
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was "unacceptable" that Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag was confronted by farmers holding burning torches at a campaign event over the weekend.
"Demonstrating is allowed, but intimidating politicians must stop," he said Monday on Twitter, adding that "if you disagree with each other, you normally start the conversation."
A group of farmers prevented Kaag from entering a cultural center in the Dutch town of Diepenheim on Sunday, with some of them holding flaming torches.
Rutte said it was "unacceptable what happened to Sigrid Kaag last night," adding that, "Politicians should be able to do their job freely."
Dutch farmers have long been protesting government plans to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which could require farmers to use less fertilizer and reduce their livestock numbers, and force some farms to shut.
Kaag's social liberal party Democrats 66 has been at the forefront of the push for drastic reductions of nitrogen emissions. Read More…
