Violence at the Hague anti-immigration protest. The protesters attacked the police and set fire to cars. The gendarmes replied with water and gas cannons
The Dutch police intervened on Saturday in The Hague with tear gas and water cannons to disperse anti-immigration protests, a spokesman for local authorities said. Thousands of people participated in the demonstration organized by a right -wing activist, who asked for harsher immigration policies and strict measures against asylum seekers, in the context of approaching national elections, reports Reuters.
Violence at the Hague anti-immigration protest. Photo: Twiter
Large groups of protesters, many of them waving Dutch flags and flags associated with far -right groups, became violent with the police, throwing stones and bottles, according to images broadcast by the NOS television station.
A police car was set on fire, and a group of protesters shortly blocked a highway near the demonstration.
The local press reported that the protesters also broke several windows at the headquarters of the Center-Stânga D66, considered by many from the far right as a party that serves a progressive elite.
The protest, organized just over a month before the national elections, was initiated by the right -wing activist who is self -titled ELS Rechts, known for the opposition to asylum seekers and for calls to a fair housing policy in the Netherlands.
The populist anti-Immigration Geert Wilders, who won the previous elections in the Netherlands and which in recent weeks has maintained the advantage in opinion polls before the vote on October 29, was invited to speak at the demonstration, but did not participate.
Instead he condemned violence on X, stating that the use of force against police is “Absolutely unacceptable” and qualifying those involved in the right “Idiots”.
“Blocking the highway and using force against police are absolutely unacceptable ”, he wrote again.
In mid -June, over one hundred thousand protesters, including families with children, manifested in The Hague against the Israel's offensive in Gaza and the position of the Dutch government towards this conflict, forming an “Red line” symbolic and asking for stopping the attacks.
