2023-08-18 19:31:00
Flemish farmers fear for their future. The measures taken within the framework of the “nitrogen plan” by Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) would, according to them, be untenable. Ultimately, “it’s guaranteed death for the sector”, they warn. To convey this message to the authorities, a rally took place this Friday at the Parking Oost site in Antwerp. A tide of flags and red scarves, branded with the phrase “Ik steun de boer” (“I support the farmers”) swept over the square.
Many demonstrators came with their families, like Hildegarde. “I am here to support the farmers. I am not a farmer myself, but I know a lot through my family and friends, she explains. I am not worried regarding my future, but regarding that of young people. Politicians should help our farmers, rather than doing everything for the industries there,” she says, pointing to the port of Antwerp and the factories in the distance.
“A permit for Ineos, farmers have it in their bones. ”
The choice of the city of Bart De Wever as a rallying point was indeed not due to chance. “De Wever is ready to do anything to grant a permit to the new Ineos factory, but he leaves the farmers aside”, denounces Bart Dickens, the president of Farmers Defense Force, the organization at the initiative of the rally. “We have nothing once morest industrialists per se, but it is not normal that they have to respect less severe environmental measures than us”, he assures standing next to a large wooden cross, symbolizing the death of Flemish agriculture.
Farmers say they are subject to much stricter nitrogen emission standards than those applied to industry. To obtain an environmental permit, factories can reach a threshold of 1%, farmers only 0.028%. A contrast that the farmers gathered in Antwerp do not understand. “I have nothing once morest the port or anything else, but such levels are forbidden to us, laments Jef, a farmer in West Flanders. There is no reason for us to be sacrificed to please manufacturers.”
The Flemish government reaches an agreement on nitrogen
No strong political anchoring
However, unlike its Dutch cousin, Farmers Defense Force (FDF) denies any political affiliation. The Flemish branch was created in June, a few weeks following the surprise victory of the BBB (Boerburgerbeweging), the “farmer-citizen movement” in the last Dutch local elections. But Bart Dickens does not display political ambitions. “That’s not my goal. I am here to wake up politicians, not to become one”, he asserts.
The messages displayed by the placards, however, are well directed once morest a single party, the N-VA. “A C4 for Demir”, “Nieuwe Vlaamse Arrogantie” (”New Flemish Arrogance”), “The N-VA wants to destroy us”, and some Latin quotes for the president of the nationalist party appear on the posters. “It is precisely to guarantee their future that we take on our responsibilities”, reacted Bart De Wever in Het Gazet van Antwerpen. “We are working on putting in place a strong nitrogen framework and a billion-euro aid package to support affected farmers,” he continued. The reaction did not convince the farmers present on the spot. “It is precisely because of his measures that he has to set up billions of euros in compensation,” regrets Raf Van Hasselt, a cow breeder in the province of Antwerp.
After several hours of speeches, the organizers can breathe. The demonstration took place in the calm as they hoped. It is not the few firecrackers heard at the very back of the crowd that will have worried the Antwerp police. From now on, Flemish farmers are waiting to be able to meet representatives of the Jambon government. Their gathering was purposely planned ahead of an early meeting of the Flemish Parliament on August 24. MEPs will once once more discuss nitrogen policy in Flanders.
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