Clashes broke out in several Dutch cities over the introduction of new nationwide lockdown measures on Sunday, resulting in over 240 arrests, according to police and local media.
Police used water cannon, dogs and mounted officers to disperse a protest in central Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon, according to eye-witnesses. Nearly 200 people, some of them throwing stones and fireworks, were detained in the city.
A car on fire in front of the train station in Eindhoven Sunday, after a rally by several hundreds of people against a Covid-19 lockdown.ROB ENGELAAR / AFP – Getty Images
One of the demonstrations took place in Amsterdams Museum Square, which violated a ban on public gatherings. The violent protests were prompted by tougher social distancing measures, announced by the government. The new national measures include a nightly curfew for the first time since World War Two.
Dutch military police said in a tweet that they were deployed to at least two additional cities in the south to support local law enforcement and contain the violence.
President Joe Biden plans to sign restrictions Monday on travel to the United States to mitigate Covid-19 transmission.
