Does economic gain in war take precedence over morality?

Henri Middelveld and Wim Kroft are agricultural entrepreneurs in Poland, while the war in Ukraine is raging. They both receive Ukrainian refugees at home and at their companies and they feel the tension and stress firsthand.. The farmers watch with grit as Dutch companies continue to trade with Russia. It seems that financial gain takes precedence over morality. "VOC mentality in a new jacket", is how Kroft describes their opinion below.

I wasn't always the best at school. There have been many times when my mind was not focused on my rabbit hutches that I was building. Or other things on the farm that interested me. What I do remember is that during the Eighty Years' War, Dutch merchants sold weapons to the enemy against the Spaniards. In that case, tax had to be paid.

War affects every European
What does this historical fact have to do with the Ukraine war? At the moment there is a war going on with a devastating effect of violence and destruction that has not been seen in Europe since the Second World War. If Western Europe thinks it's a 'far from my bed' show, they're wrong. Weapons are not yet used in this part of Europe, but economically and socially everyone becomes a participant in the conflict. Living costs are rising rapidly. Interest rates are going up and a recession with major consequences is inevitable.

The only way to weaken those effects is to counter-attack hard. Ukraine is the best example of this in the military field. To what extent and to what extent they are aided by other countries is not entirely clear, but they still bravely resist. A tough counter-attack against Russia is in order from the Netherlands and the rest of Western Europe. Instead, it still trades nicely with the Russians.

No response to questions
As farmers, we are of course familiar with the agricultural supply and have approached various companies with the question whether there is still trading with Russia. The responses received vary. Some companies say they have stopped, others say that trading is not prohibited and so they are continuing to trade. Or you will be transferred and after that the phone will no longer be answered.

We therefore have a request for all Dutch people. Farmers and citizens: ask the companies you work with yourself. Stop cooperating with companies that supply to Russia and also stop buying products from these companies. The last eyewitnesses of the Second World War are still alive. At that time, many people did not know what was happening. Now we all know.

Royal predicate
Finally, we also have a question for our king and queen. There are many companies in the Netherlands that show off and advertise with the Royal predicate. We are not going to name them here, but some of these companies also continue to trade with the Russians. It is known that the king, like us, does shelter. Isn't it a good statement when the royal predicate is removed from these companies? Every little bit helps to bring peace back to Europe as soon as possible.

'War can also offer opportunities!' Everyone was surprised to see this quote from Agrifirm CEO Dick Hordijk every Friday 1 April on Boerderij.nl. Is that a message we are waiting for? The content of the article is quite okay, but thanks to the headline it seems like a very sick April 1 joke.

Critical Sound
Isn't it a journalistic duty to comment critically on the behavior of many Dutch companies at the moment? Also in the agricultural sector. In these companies, economic gain comes before moral gain. To give a small example:

• Lely puts the animal welfare of the cows in the Russian Federation above human suffering in Ukraine by continuing to supply parts for the milking systems.
• Barenbrug, a royal company, of course, still sells seeds to Russia.
• FrieslandCampina – also with the royal predicate – still sells baby food to the Russians. The babies are happy about that, while some of their fathers are currently killing Mariupol.
• DMK Group – owner of DOC Kaas – is keeping their factory in Russia open because: 'these people didn't choose this war either', according to their webinar. As if the Ukrainians asked for the missile strikes?
• And what about well-known trading houses such as HZPC and Agrico that supply seed goods to Russia as usual?

Doesn't the economic gain of the BV Netherlands take precedence over morality?

Dutchmen Henri Middelveld and Wim Kroft both have an agricultural business in northern Poland.

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