AMSTERDAM (HRNW) – A protester running towards French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the Netherlands on Wednesday had to be bundled to the ground by security officers.
The incident as Macron arrived at an event at the University of Amsterdam science campus, was the second day in a row his state visit had been disrupted by protests, after weeks of demonstrations at home against an unpopular pension law.
The man chanted as he was on the ground outside – in French but with an accent – a song popular in protests against the pension reform, that says: “We are here, we are here, even if Macron doesn’t want it we are here.”
Anger against the pension bill, which will delay retirement by two years to 64 and was pushed through parliament by the government without a vote, already disrupted the first day of his visit.
Macron had to fight to make himself heard above a man who shouted about French democracy having been lost during an event on Tuesday, before proceeding to give his speech about European sovereignty.