POLITICSNETHERLANDS
Netherlands visit by France’s Macron disrupted by protesters
57 minutes ago57 minutes ago
Emmanuel Macron’s second day in the Netherlands has been accompanied by more protests. Two people were arrested after charging at the French president.
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Protesters disturbed French President Emmanuel Macon’s state visit to the Netherlands for the second day in a row on Wednesday.
A man and a woman were arrested after running at the French president as he got out of a limousine with the Dutch King Willem-Alexander outside of Amsterdam University.
The dramatic scene comes a day after protesters interrupted a speech by Macron in The Hague. A pension reform law being controversially passed by decree has triggered intense protests and strikes across France for weeks.
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Pursued by protests
Any hopes Macron may have had of escaping the anger of French demonstrations by traveling to the Netherlands have proven premature.
One of the protesters who ran toward the president was heard chanting “for the honor of the workers and a better world — even if Macron doesn’t like it, we are here” as he was pinned to the ground.
Another group of around 40 protesters was still protesting when Macron left the university’s science faculty after a roundtable with the Dutch king and local business leaders.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, right, visit the quantum gasses and quantum information lab of the Science faculty of the University of AmsterdamFrench President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, right, visit the quantum gasses and quantum information lab of the Science faculty of the University of Amsterdam
Macron toured the science department of Amsterdam University with the Dutch kingImage: Mischa Schoemaker/Pool Photo/AP/picture alliance
“We must sometimes accept controversy,” Macron said in reference to the angry demonstrations in France and the Netherlands. “We must try to build a path for the future.”
This is not the first time that the current protests have dampened Macron’s diplomatic ambitions. Paris and London agreed to postpone what would have been King Charles III’s first trip abroad as monarch due to a planned strike.
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It is not only the pension reform — which Macron is trying to push through despite overwhelming public opposition — that has left the 45-year-old president in hot water.
Comments by Macron last week about the need for Europe to go its own way regarding tensions between the US and China have been met with criticism from many corners.
“The worst thing we Europeans could do would be to be followers on this topic and to adapt to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,” Macron told Les Echos and Politico on Friday following a visit to China.
Former US president and top contender for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, Donald Trump, was the most recent to issue remarks on Macron’s comments, in his own particular way.
“Macron, who’s a friend of mine, is over with China, kissing his ass,” Trump said in reference to Macron and China’s Xi Jinping.
In light of the fallout, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attempted to clarify France’s position, saying that while it aimed for an independent policy path, the aim has always been for France and Europe to be “strong and reliable allies of the United States of America.”
ab/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP)
