Dutch police said they fired warning shots late Tuesday night, causing no casualties but hitting a tractor, on the sidelines of protests by farmers and ranchers against a government plan to reduce nitrogen emissions.
“Around 22:40 (23:40 Greek time) tractor drivers attempted to collide with police officers and police vehicles,” in Heerenveen, in the north of the Netherlands, the police said in a message on Twitter.
“A threatening situation arose. Warning shots and targeted shots were fired,” he adds.
“A tractor was hit” and three people were arrested, police said, stressing that an independent investigation into the police shooting had been launched.
Dutch farmers and ranchers have been protesting regularly since June 10 when the government announced plans aimed at reducing emissions of nitrogen, a greenhouse gas.
In the last few days, they had blockaded the distribution centers of many supermarkets with tractors, causing shortages of some products.
The Netherlands, the world’s second-largest exporter of agricultural products after the US, is also one of Europe’s biggest emitters of climate-changing gases – nitrogen in particular. This situation is partly due to the many herds that graze on its plains.
The Dutch government is seeking to reduce nitrogen emissions by up to 70% in 131 important zones – most of them close to nature reserves and protected areas – in order to meet its 2030 environmental targets.
For farmers and ranchers, the plan means a 40% reduction in emissions and around 30% fewer farm animals, according to Dutch media.
Farmers say they are being unfairly targeted compared to big business and industry, and many are vowing to resist any plans to downsize or close their operations.
Source: RES-MPE
Source: Capital
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