Protesters across France gathered Saturday, joining students’ protests over education conditions amid calls to address rising living costs.
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Protesters across France took to the streets Saturday to demand action on rising living costs, while also joining high school students’ grievances over education conditions after more than three weeks of school blockades.
The mobilization followed calls on social media to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 over social injustice. Student groups have been protesting since mid-September and have urged supporters to join.
France’s CGT labour union also backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.”
President Emmanuel Macron appealed Friday for calm as officials warned of possible violence. In remarks made Friday in Brussels, Macron said, “There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself, and I have always been vigilant and attentive that that right is fully respected,” adding that “this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.” Macron denounced as “unacceptable” the potential presence of people “solely to cause damage and create unrest.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said hundreds of protest actions and more than 80 marches were expected nationwide, including spontaneous gatherings, street demonstrations and blockades.
In Paris, a march was set to begin in the early afternoon at Republic Plaza, northeast of the city centre. Police banned some other proposed gatherings in central Paris, and several Metro stations were closed at police request, including those around the Champs-Elysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.
In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests linked to the country’s presidential election campaign and drawing international attention. Nuñez said he suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade after a 15-year-old lost a hand following earlier demonstrations. Climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Tuesday.
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