Minister Van der Wal calls it “bizarre” that some MPs cannot attend the farmers’ protest in Stroe because their safety cannot be guaranteed. “This shows the polarization,” she says. “And the question is, how do we bring everyone back together.”
The National Coordinator for Terrorism and Security (NCTV) warned several MPs, including Tjeerd de Groot (D66), Thom van Campen (VVD) and Derk Boswijk (CDA), this morning not to travel to Stroe. De Groot and Van Campen took this to heart, Boswijk ignored the advice.
Van der Wal believes that a protest meeting is a good opportunity to talk to each other. “And if it is the case that certain parties cannot go there… “
‘Unwelcome message’
Other cabinet members are also concerned. Minister Dijkgraaf (Education, Culture and Science) points out that because of threats not to the Oerol festival on Terschelling. “It is alarming that those who deliver an unwelcome message are so excluded from public debate.”
In a closed meeting, the NCTV told the MPs why a number of them had received safety advice. “For security reasons, I cannot disclose details about the specific considerations underlying this advice,” Minister Yesilgoz of Justice and Security wrote in a letter to the House.
After the meeting, VVD member Van Campen said that the NCTV’s advice was “so serious” that he cannot ignore it. “That is very difficult for me. As a member of parliament, I would have loved to have the conversation there and listen to the concerns that exist.”
–
