French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, warned earlier this week of a ‘very high risk of public disorder’
France is bracing for a third weekend of protests, with police deploying 70,000 officers in an effort to prevent a repeat of the riots and looting that have swept the country in recent weeks.
Nationwide protests over the rising cost of living and the deteriorating education system have drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets. Some demonstrations have descended into violence, with widespread looting and vandalism reported on 17 October.
Ahead of this weekend’s planned demonstrations, shops and businesses across France have boarded up their storefronts. Police have restricted access to Place de la République and Les Halles between 11pm and 6am on Saturday and Sunday and unaccompanied minors face a separate 9pm curfew around the Champs-Elysees.
The French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez , warned earlier this week of a “very high risk of public disorder” , saying demonstrations would be permitted but not in city centres, where authorities are concerned about the potential for violence and damage to property. The interior ministry said around 150 demonstrations were scheduled to take place nationwide.
Nuñez said authorities had identified social media posts for Halloween gatherings urging protesters to spark a “revolution”.
“Everyone is on deck to ensure an extremely firm response to any trouble,” he added.
The largely peaceful protests, which began in late September by students angry over the state of school facilities, overcrowded classrooms and what they regard as an unfair university admissions process, have since been joined by the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) activists and and trade unionists. Government pledges to overhaul the education system and reduce fuel costs have done little to quell public anger.
The protests have sparked a wave of youth-led demonstrations across Europe , with protests scheduled in more than 30 German cities today. An alliance of groups called Gen Z regelt (Gen Z is sorting it) has urged supporters in cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne to take to the streets to demand greater investment in education, climate action and housing, as well as opposition to proposals to reintroduce compulsory military service. Organisers said they are expecting more than 160,000 people to take part in the demonstrations.
For the full story, you can read this report from Deborah Cole in Berlin and Jon Henley in Paris:
