Emergency ordinance in Nijmegen during the Four Days Marches for farmers’ campaigns | Inland

An emergency ordinance will apply to the entire city of Nijmegen from 6 p.m. on Thursday 21 July due to a planned protest by Farmers Defense Force (FDF). They want to demonstrate with five hundred hikers as close as possible to the finish of the Four Days Marches. This emergency ordinance runs until 23:59 on Friday 22 July.

The Four Days Marches festivities start on Saturday and the Four Days Marches itself on Tuesday. The Four Days Marches ends Friday on St. Annastraat, Via Gladiola, just outside the center.

The municipality has informed FDF that a demonstration at the finish with so many tractors in that place is physically impossible. “The Friday of the entry is the busiest time of the year and the St. Annastraat and the last piece to the finish at the Wedren are the busiest places in Nijmegen,” according to the municipality.

It is difficult for Mayor Bruls to institute an emergency regulation

The mayor of Nijmegen Hubert Bruls says that the decision to institute emergency ordinances has been hard on him. “The Four Days Marches and Four Days Festivities stand for openness, being together and fraternization. It was a difficult decision to have to deploy such a heavy administrative tool. I’ve never had to do this before. I trust that everyone will see the reasonableness of this.”

More than 42,000 runners take part in the Four Days Marches and the parties attract many more visitors to the city. “In the coming week, together with the organizers and the emergency services, I will care for all those hundreds of thousands of people who visit Nijmegen. This measure can help in emergencies,” says Bruls.

Demonstrations with agricultural vehicles on the public road along the Four Days Marches are also undesirable, unfeasible and dangerous, according to the mayors of the municipalities through which the walking route runs. “It is possible to discuss smaller-scale expressions along the route or expressions elsewhere in the region,” according to the municipalities. They also informed FDF that they would look into possible alternatives.

An FDF spokesman said the group is still discussing the planned demonstrations, now that an emergency ordinance will be in effect in the city.

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