France to deploy 70,000 police officers amid new protests
Kyiv • UNN
France is preparing around 70,000 police officers for protests against the cost of living. The authorities will deploy elite units, armored vehicles and drones.
On Saturday, France will deploy around 70,000 police officers across the country. The government is seeking to prevent new civil unrest after some of the most violent street clashes in years erupted during protests against the rising cost of living last weekend, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Friday that the security forces would include elite units usually deployed for counterterrorism operations and hostage rescues. He added that calls for violence by "far-left" groups had appeared on social media.
"This is absolutely not a peaceful, friendly demonstration," Nuñez told reporters after a meeting attended by senior officials and ministers and chaired by President Emmanuel Macron. "Tomorrow we are ready to act with the utmost resolve and will not tolerate any violations."
Macron and his government are trying to bring under control a crisis that caught them off guard — just six months before the presidential election, in which the successor to the incumbent head of state is to be elected. The government acknowledged that on Saturday it had "lost control" of the large-scale unrest.
The largely peaceful demonstrations were exploited by groups of aggressively minded participants, leading to outbreaks of violence and mass looting in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities. In Limoges, the town hall building was set on fire and partially destroyed.
"We will show no leniency toward rioters, looters and anyone who resorts to violence," Nuñez said. He added that, in addition to 10,000 extra police officers, water cannons, armored vehicles, mounted police, helicopters and drones would be deployed to maintain order.
Demonstrations are also expected in a number of other countries this weekend. They are part of a broader Europe-wide wave of discontent caused by the deterioration in the quality of public services, housing affordability problems, cuts in public-sector spending and the sharp rise in the cost of living.
Protests linked to similar demands are scheduled for Saturday in the Italian cities of Milan, Rome and Turin; Vienna, Austria; the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona and others; as well as Lisbon and Porto (Portugal), Dublin (Ireland) and Tirana (Albania). Protests are expected across France on Saturday, although demonstrations have been banned in a number of cities or organizers have been forced to change their planned routes to protect shops and public buildings. In addition, forecast heavy rain and gusty winds could lead to lower turnout.
Protesters are prohibited from entering central Lyon and some other major cities. At the same time, Paris authorities allowed a trade union march to take place but restricted its route to the eastern part of the capital — between the Bastille and Nation squares — in order to avoid the city center.
Applications to hold rallies in Paris submitted by France’s main student union (UNEF) and the "yellow vest" movement (gilets jaunes) were rejected. The latter, whose nationwide protests shook the country in 2018, has scheduled 600 small-scale rallies across France for this Saturday.
UNEF said that its rallies — which emerged against the backdrop of last month’s protests by high school students over a shortage of teachers and the run-down condition of educational institutions — would go ahead anyway. Several prominent cultural institutions in Paris, including the Louvre, said they would be closed on Saturday.
The authorities in Marseille initially also banned all protests, but on Friday announced that a demonstration organized by trade unions would be allowed "as an exception." It will be the only authorized protest in the southern department of Bouches-du-Rhône.