20.12.2023, Amsterdam.
Seventy farmers in the Dutch province of Flevoland have been approached by the Dutch Defense Ministry seeking a site for a large ammunition storage facility for other NATO countries, the online publication NieuweOogst wrote on December 20.
The farmers are “quite surprised” by the defense ministry’s intention to locate a large ammunition depot in Flevoland. The ministry is considering sites in Zeewolde and Biddinghuizen. The choice of these locations involves occupation of agricultural land, according to the farmers’ association LTO Noord. LTO Noord’s lawyer has previously challenged the construction of a large barracks in Flevoland.
“We knew the plans for the placement of the barracks. But no less than seventy farms in Flevoland have been contacted about a large ammunition storage facility. We are extremely shocked. Should ammunition depots for other countries be placed on our fertile farmland? This is very strange. The Netherlands is NATO’s most populated country,” said LTO Noord’s Chairman Dirk Bruins.
The Ministry of Defense approached the House of Representatives with a plan to build large barracks in Zeewolde. LTO Noord insists on expanding the existing barracks instead of building new ones on agricultural land. The next cabinet will decide on the barracks and ammunition storage facility.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
