Mark Rutte talks to farmers in Kelpen-Oler: 'Left or right, the amount of nitrogen in the Netherlands must be reduced'.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with a number of farmers from Brabant and Limburg on Monday in Kelpen-Oler who are deeply concerned about the government's nitrogen plans.

Rutte did this at the dairy farm of Thieu Bongers in Kelpen-Oler. The Prime Minister's visit had been kept strictly secret in advance for security reasons. "There is also enormous concern among the farmers here," he noted after the meeting at Bongers'. The prime minister said he was under no illusion that he had been able to take that away. "We can't do that with a few talks. We're going to need a long time for that.''