Macron hit by pension protests on Dutch state visit

Protesters disrupted a keynote speech by Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday as his domestic troubles cast a shadow over the first state visit to the Netherlands by a French president in 23 years.

Demonstrators shouted “Where is French democracy?” and unfurled banners at the start of the address in The Hague by Macron, who has faced violent protests and strikes at home over pensions reforms, AFP journalists saw.

The two-day visit got off to a stormy start for other reasons too, with Macron facing criticism over controversial remarks in which he said Europe must not be a “follower” of either the United States or Beijing over Taiwan.

Macron is confronting the biggest challenge of his second term over his flagship pension overhaul, which includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 and requiring people to work longer for a full payout.

In The Hague, the demonstrators had stood in an upper tier of the theatre and shouted “you have millions of protesters in the streets” while holding up a banner that read “President of Violence and Hypocrisy”.

Macron tried to answer as they heckled, and then after security guards had removed them he hit back by saying that people who do “whatever (they) want” against laws they disagree with “put democracy at risk”.

He added that he was “not sure that the tax payer in the Netherlands will accept that we will finance a long social model in France… so I have to do the job back home.”

– ‘Depend on others’ –

The 45-year-old’s speech made no mention of Taiwan, sticking instead to themes of Europe’s need to promote its own economy and security in a time of war and turmoil.

The speech came after Macron said in an interview with media including Politico and French business daily Les Echos that “we don’t want to depend on others on critical issues”, citing energy, artificial intelligence and social networks.

“The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,” Macron said after a three-day state visit to Beijing last week.

His comments raised eyebrows on both sides of the Atlantic, especially after days of Chinese war games around Taiwan.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the alliance with the United States was an “absolute foundation” of European security.

“Some Western leaders dream of cooperation with everyone, with Russia and with some powers in the Far East,” he added, without naming those leaders.

US Senator Marco Rubio said on Twitter that “we need to find out if Emmanuel Macron speaks for Europe”.

The Elysee Palace insisted Tuesday that the president had never called for Europe to keep an “equidistance” from the United States and China.

“The United States are our allies, we share common values,” the French presidency said.

– Royal welcome –

Earlier Tuesday, Macron and his wife Brigitte were greeted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima on their arrival in Amsterdam.

The French leader stood to attention alongside them outside the Royal Palace as a band played the Marseillaise, the French national anthem. He later laid a wreath at the Dutch National Monument.

A few people cheered as Macron’s car arrived, an AFP journalist saw, in a contrast to the recent scenes of anger in France.

Macron will also have a state dinner with the king and queen, see the hot-ticket Johannes Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and meet Prime Minister Mark Rutte on a canal boat.

The visit is meant to highlight a new dynamic between Paris and The Hague after the turning point of Brexit.

In the wake of the speech, France and the Netherlands will sign a “pact for innovation” on Wednesday focusing on cooperation in semiconductors, quantum physics and energy.

They will also work to finalise a defence pact by 2024.