Dutch riot police clashed with several hundred far-right demonstrators in The Hague on Saturday after violence broke out at an anti-immigration rally in the city centre.
The protest, organised by the far-right group "Wij zijn het volk" — which translates as "We Are the People" — had been planned as a march through The Hague against the Netherlands' immigration and asylum policies. Local authorities banned the march after violence erupted among demonstrators gathered at Malieveld, a park in the city centre, and later ordered the crowd to disperse.
Reports put the number of demonstrators at several hundred, with one source citing approximately 500.
Police used pepper spray, water cannon, baton charges, and dogs to break up the demonstration. Officers arrested 24 people on various offences, including failing to comply with dispersal orders and illegally possessing weapons. Further investigations were said to be underway.
Some protesters pelted police with fireworks and other projectiles. A police car was set on fire during the clashes. The headquarters of the centrist D66 party was also attacked.
A participant was seen giving a Hitler salute, while a truck serving as a stage displayed a screen reading "The Netherlands is for the Dutch," according to the country's largest national news agency, Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau.
Justice Minister David van Weel condemned the scenes in a post on X, calling for an "extremely firm" response.
"Identical images from the Malieveld. Hitler salutes, antisemitic slogans, violence against the police and throwing fireworks at the riot squad," he wrote. "It is important that hardline action is taken against this."
Van Weel also said demonstrators made Nazi salutes, chanted antisemitic slogans, and attacked police. He thanked officers for "standing up for our democratic rule of law."
Prime Minister Rob Jetten also posted on X, saying the demonstrators had deliberately sought confrontation with police and chanted "abhorrent" far-right and antisemitic slogans.
One protester, 31-year-old mechanic Thijs Jansen, told reporters: "We're losing our country. We're literally losing our country to mass migration."
Saturday's unrest came a year after similar violence erupted during a right-wing demonstration in The Hague, when police also deployed water cannon, a police car was set on fire, and the D66 party headquarters was attacked. Rob Jetten, then the party's leader, is now prime minister.
