THE HAGUE - According to caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the riots of the past days in various Dutch cities were "pure violence under the guise of demonstrating." He said the police and judiciary would do everything they could to hold those behind the violence accountable.

Rutte said he realizes that there are "a lot of tensions in society because we have been dealing with all the misery of the coronavirus for so long." He said he would always defend the right to protest, but "I will never accept that idiots use sheer violence" against police and paramedics "under the guise of we are dissatisfied."

The police unions also denounced the riots, saying that the police are facing an impossible task.

"In a large number of cities, police officers continue to be confronted with unprecedented and unsparing violence," NPB chairman Jan Struijs said to newspaper AD. "This demands the utmost of police officers to protect citizens and their property. These are going to be exhausting days and weeks."

Gerrit van de Kamp, chairman of police union ACP, agreed with Struijs. "What else is there to say. We saw this coming. We are following it closely," he said to AD. According to him, "the violence seems unlimited." "Police officers face an almost inhumane task."