Three people have been arrested at a university fair in Nijmegen after a fight broke out at a stand for a nationalist students’ group.

Police said a 38-year-old man from Nijmegen, an 18-year-old man from Oegstgeest and a third person whose identity could not be verified were arrested on Monday morning.

A scuffle broke out at around 11am at a stand operated by GNSV, a right-wing students’ association founded in Leiden, which set up a branch at Nijmegen’s Radboud University this year.

Witnesses said a group of demonstrators surrounded the stand just before the incident began. “I saw punches being thrown and people rolling in the grass,” one told campus newspaper Vox.

Police and security arrived shortly afterwards and broke up the fight. Police said three GNSV members had suffered minor injuries and they were investigating the cause.

One anonymous activist told Vox that they were outraged by the university’s decision to allow the “fascist GNSV” on campus. “Their presence at the fair is making some students feel very unsafe. How do you think the queer community feels about it?” they said.

In a statement, the university said the confrontation was “sad and scandalous. “Violence can never be the solution to differences of opinion, especially not on a day when new students are familiarising themselves with the university and each other,” a spokesman said.

The GNSV describes itself on its website as a “colour bearing organisation on the Flemish model” and campaigns for the reintegration of Flanders into the Netherlands. It also says it represents “right-wing students” who “look critically at society” and are “sick of left-wing teaching materials”.

On the website X, formerly known as Twitter, GNSV said its members had been attacked by “a group of extreme left cowards”. The group has 135 followers on X.