Dutch pro-farming party gains big win in provincial elections

A farmer-led political party campaigning against Dutch government policies to curb agricultural pollution has scored a big win in the provincial elections.

According to exit polls, the Farmer-Citizen Movement  – BoerBurgerBewegin (BBB) is on course to win 15 of the 75 seats in the senate (Eerste Kamer), more than prime minister Mark Rutte’s right-wing VVD (Renew Europe) party, dropping from 12 to 10 seats.

The pro-farmers BBB was founded in 2019 and it has pledged to fight the Rutte government’s plan to buy and close between 2,000 and 3,000 farms in the Netherlands, in a bid to comply with EU targets to reduce nitrogen emissions.

See also: Dutch farmers protest against government emissions targets

BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told Dutch broadcaster NPO Radio One: “Nobody can ignore us any longer. Voters have spoken out very clearly against this government’s policies.”

The BBB could use its new political power in the upper house of Dutch parliament to block the Rutte government’s nitrogen legislation in the lower house.

More than 10,000 farmers travelled to The Hague on Saturday 11 March.

They were protesting against their coalition government’s plans to cut nitrogen emissions in half by 2030, which includes a radical cut of one-third of livestock numbers.

Dutch farmers say they are being unfairly singled out compared to other sectors, such as aviation, construction and transport, which are facing far less stringent restrictions.

Their protests have struck a chord with the Dutch public and won support from populist politicians.

In recent weeks and months, fellow farmers in Germany and Belgium have staged large protests against their own government polices to introduce nitrogen emissions cuts, which they argue risks the closure of their businesses and livelihoods.