Dutch police compete with anti-immigration demonstrators

Dutch police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent anti-immigration demonstrators in The Hague on Saturday.

Thirty people were arrested and two police officers injured while large groups of people clashed with the police, with rocks and bottles.

About 1,500 people blocked a highway crossing the city, while a police car was burnt down, reported the Dutch press agency ANP, citing police figures.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned the “shocking and bizarre images of shameless violence”, saying that it was “completely unacceptable”.

The right chief, Geert Wilders, who won the previous elections in the Netherlands and retained his advance in opinion polls before a vote on October 29, was invited to speak during the demonstration but did not attend.

Instead, he also condemned violence against the police as “totally unacceptable”, saying that it was the work of “idiots”.

The demonstration was organized by a right -wing activist, demanding stricter migration policies and repression on asylum seekers.

Violence broke out when large groups of demonstrators, many waving Dutch flags and flags associated with far -right groups, confronted the security forces.

The demonstrators also broke the windows of the headquarters of the D66 festival on the left, considered by many to the far right as a party which serves a progressive elite.

The chief of the D66, Rob Jetten, said that the damage inside was extended and told demonstrators to “stay away from political parties”.

“If you think you can intimidate us, difficult. We will never let extremist rioters take off our beautiful country,” he said on the X social media platform.

No one was present in the offices of the D66 at the time of the demonstrations, according to the party officials cited by the ANP.

The Dutch government collapsed in June after Wilders withdrew its far -right PVV party from the ruling coalition following a line on migration.

The dispute intervened after Wilders put pressure for 10 additional asylum measures, including a frost on applications, stopping the construction of reception centers and limiting family reunification.

The power coalition was in place for less than a year.