POLICE tackled and detained a protester on Wednesday after he ran towards French President Emmanuel Macron as he arrived at the University of Amsterdam campus on the second day of his state visit to the Netherlands.

It was the second straight day that protesters targeted Mr Macron, who is facing angry unrest at home over his pension reforms. 

The protester was tackled by a military officer and police before being restrained and detained in a nearby police vehicle. 

At the start of his speech in The Hague on Tuesday, protesters opposing Mr Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 brandished a banner calling him the “president of violence and hypocrisy.”

“I can answer these questions if you give me some time,” Mr Macron responded, speaking in English as the protesters were led away. 

President Macron’s pension reforms have prompted massive protests and strikes in France since January. 

Critics were additionally infuriated when he used a special constitutional power last month to push the Bill through parliament without a vote.

French unions have called for more protests today, on the eve of a key ruling by France’s Constitutional Council which could strike down part or all of the pension law.