Twente

Last week I was in Lattrop, a small village in Twente. Not immediately a place you think of when looking for relaxation. It lies in the north-eastern part of Twente, pressed up against the German border. Twente is in Overijssel and has nothing to do with the Achterhoek, as is often assumed. Places like Hengelo, Almelo, Enschede and Oldenzaal are well known. Not exactly cities you want to visit in particular, either. Or it should be for the big carnival parade in Oldenzaal, which attracts as many as 100,000 people. That part of Twente is indeed Catholic. Perhaps that explains its amazing hospitality. Twente people are warm-hearted people. They make their living in agriculture. Hard workers, little fuss, down-to-earth view of the world. As soon as you drive into the region, you are overcome by tranquillity. No busy, hectic traffic. Vast Dutch meadows with beautiful farms and, of course, cows. You immediately feel that life is good here. In all contacts with people, this feeling is confirmed again and again.

Agrarian dominance

No, I have not joined the local tourist office. I like to take you through things that touch me. There is also another story about Twente. I already mentioned the agricultural dominance. Everywhere you go you see upside-down Dutch flags. You are pushed to death with election signs for the BBB, which apparently has a large constituency there. You also come across slogans here and there on protest signs that don't lie. Targeted against government policy, sometimes very personal. Sigrid Kaag also noticed the latter when she wanted to attend a D66 election rally in Twente against her will. In hindsight, you might wonder if you are not very naive if you think anyone in Twente is waiting for Sigrid Kaag. She was met with burning torches. Surely that is a warm welcome you would think. However, the association with the man who stood in front of her house with a burning torch some time ago is easily made. For her too. But she was strong and did not allow herself to be intimidated, according to Kaag herself. About the election rally itself, no one is talking anymore. Rutte, Hoekstra and even Van der Plas were on hand to disapprove of the Twente people's action. One would still expect some sympathy from Van der Plas, given the many election signs and thus interest in her party. This was a prime opportunity to score. She let it run, inexperienced. Kaag would certainly have seized this momentum. For her own constituency, of course, she did the same by pretending to be so strong. Her constituents will reward her for this.

Nitrogen producers?

When you drive around Twente, everything is beautiful. The people have it together there, a neat people. Everything neatly tidy, neat in the square. But they are taken for stupid by our big leaders in the Randstad. They need to reduce their livestock, preferably stop farming, because they are nitrogen producers. I've talked about it before in this place, but I still don't understand the problem. It is, of course, about something else. They have to build in the Randstad, because not enough people live there yet. You can hardly find a place as neat and tidy as Twente, yet they want more. They won't build in Twente, who wants to live in such a stupid region? It would be good if Klaver and Jetten and their cronies spent a month working on a farm. Then they would never stand in the way of a farmer again. These people do no harm to anyone, including our nature and environment. You don't see a healthier nature than in this region. I'm glad they dare to resist, which is not easy at all. They stand up for their businesses, for their livelihoods, for their region.