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French PM Calls for Curfews After Violent Protests
Confirmed
In Short: French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called for localised curfews on Monday, following violent protests that saw mass demonstrations and clashes with police over the weekend.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the Louvre in Paris, and authorities deployed some 60,000 law enforcement personnel across the country on Saturday.
More than 2,500 people were arrested and nearly 1,000 members of the security forces were injured during the unrest.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said that 70 percent of those arrested were adults and many were already known to authorities.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez offered to resign after acknowledging that the police had lost control in several cities.
Prime Minister Lecornu vowed to restore public order and said the government was ready to impose a state of emergency if needed.
The unrest spread to other European countries, with smaller clashes breaking out in Milan and Belgium, and protests simmering in Spain and Portugal.
French Prime Minister Lecornu announced that he had instructed regional authorities to bring in 'localised and partial' curfews to prevent further riots and looting.
The curfews would be confined to certain areas of cities, such as areas with public transport connections and symbolic places.
Up to 500 schools across France will be partially or totally closed on Monday after clashes between riot police and student protesters in recent days.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said the wave of protests had been declining in recent days and the government would launch a platform for students to express their dissatisfaction.
French President Emmanuel Macron refused Nunez's resignation, even as he acknowledged security and intelligence failures in the government response.
Macron said police work was under scrutiny and had asked the interior minister to look into it.
What's confirmed
- The French prime minister called for localised curfews on Monday, as protesters blocked the entrance to the Louvre in Paris and authorities scrambled to stem public discontent that over the weekend saw mass cost-of-living demonstrations spill over into some of the worst street violence in recent years.
- "On Saturday, in some major cities, you couldn't look shopkeepers in the eye after hundreds of shops had been looted and tell them we hadn't lost control," Nunez said.
- Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu huddled with ministers in a crisis meeting after the interior minister said the police "had lost control" during the weekend's unrest.
What's still developing
- "I'm very worried because it's a new phenomenon, which also originates from an international scenario and therefore feeds itself."
- "There is a whole network that could be mobilised to even call into question the timetable for the presidential election and the holding of the presidential election itself," Lecornu told reporters.
- A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there is no excuse for the violent protests seen across France at the weekend, branding them "unacceptable", according to France 24.
- "I am the minister of the interior, I am responsible for everything that happens on the ground," he told France Inter radio, explaining his decision to resign.
- In a statement published by the French Embassy in the US, Barrot outlined three principles regarding the current security situation.
- Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said that the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and a French mayor were among those attacked, while a Belgian vehicle was damaged.
- Curiously, the British and French believe it is safer to display the tapestry in different ways (although called the Bayeux Tapestry, it is actually an embroidery).
- Andy Burnham arrived in Ukraine on Monday for his first international trip as British prime minister, in an attempt to show he’ll maintain diplomatic and military support for Kyiv as Russia’s war enters a decisive phase.
- G7 leaders have agreed to release “up to 100 million barrels” of strategic petroleum reserves “within four months”, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.
- At a press conference in Paris, Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez said that unlike other protests, where rioters wait until the end of the event to turn violent, the violence on Saturday “started right from the beginning”, Le Figaro reported.
- Radev warned the war was expanding geographically and increasing the risk of global conflict, while Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Budapest “stands in full solidarity with Bulgaria” after the attack.