France Seeks To Curb Unrest As Protest Violence Hits Europe

The French protests drew more than half a million people on Saturday, but what started out as peaceful processions to complain about poor conditions in classrooms and hospitals, and cost-of-living concerns soon deteriorated. Some 2,397 people were arrested on Saturday, according to updated Interior Ministry figures released late Sunday.

ALSO READ | France Struggles To Contain Fallout From Nationwide Protests

Scenes of destruction spanned multiple cities, with around 1,000 police and firefighters injured. The historic city hall in Limoges, in central France, was set on fire, gutting the 143-year-old building, while a tourist office was set ablaze in Lyon.

Further episodes of conflict between protesters and police were taking place Sunday evening in Paris, mainly around Paris's Place de la République, a day after the pedestal of its Marianne monument was covered with graffiti, and in nearby streets. Many scenes of violence were witnessed in the vicinity on Saturday: a restaurant was broken into and burned, and the owner of a tobacco shop told BFM TV that looters had barged in with plastic bags to load up on cigarettes.

The clashes come at a critical time for France with a presidential election looming in April as Macron's time in office heads toward its end. Discontent has been brewing over high living costs and student dissatisfaction over the education system.

Demands for more funding are at odds with an economy desperately needing to get a grip on a fast-growing and expensive debt burden. Concerns over the country's finances are set to drag on into the election, with investor jitters lingering over what the frontrunners have to offer, and no clear path out of the crisis.

Macron said many participants in protest marches expressed concerns over the cost of living, particularly prices at the pump, and that those worries were at the root of unrest across several European cities. He added that he aimed "to secure our supplies" of fuel on a visit to Gulf countries starting Monday.

Protest Fallout

Fallout from the weekend has sparked recriminations between political parties, exacerbating an already divided landscape.

Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader who leads in polls ahead of the election, directly blamed far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his France Unbowed party, known by it's French acronym LFI, for stirring up the violence.

"Our country is caught in a vice, held hostage even, between violence and powerlessness," Le Pen said in a speech posted on X on Sunday, blaming forces that she said trivialize violence, and target police and institutions. "This movement, with its political wing, LFI, and its armed wing, the antifa groups, absurdly draws parallels to the bloody South American revolutions or, worse, to the conflict in the Middle East."

A spat between Mélenchon and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also emerged on X as protests spiraled out of control, with looting in large cities such as Paris and Bordeaux.

Mélenchon blamed police provocation for some of the disorder and wrote on X that "those who share our struggle are not to be involved in looting or vandalism."

Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister under Macron and a presidential candidate, said people in France should be able to rely on the state to protect private property.

"What is at stake here is democracy itself," he told broadcaster BFM TV on Sunday.

The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon have requested a meeting with the prime minister. Marseille's Benoit Payan pointed to the inadequacy of the state's plan for law and order on Saturday.

Damage from the unrest will cost "hundreds of millions of euros" to repair, according to Alexandre Bompard, the chief executive officer of grocer Carrefour SA who heads the French trade and distribution federation. He said in a Sunday interview on LCI TV that 1,500 storekeepers were affected, with about 20 of his own supermarkets looted.

Scenes of the Limoges town hall fire prompted a response from US Vice President JD Vance, who linked the events to immigration and a lack of assimilation. "I pray that France, a beautiful country of amazing people, will stop this madness before more of its landmarks burn," he wrote on X.

President Donald Trump, without supplying evidence, blamed immigration in a post on his Truth Social platform.

ALSO READ | The Bill Has Come Due: France Is Burning, And Why Alarm Bells Are Ringing In Europe

Italy

Protests over the weekend went far beyond just France.

Thousands took to the streets in Milan, Turin and Bologna, where clashes broke out, while a separate trade-union demonstration was held in Rome over wages and living costs. In southern Italy, truck drivers and farmers have also staged protests over high fuel and other expenses.

In Milan, where about 5,000 people demonstrated, groups of mostly young, masked rioters fought police around Piazza del Duomo - the main square at the heart of Italy's financial capital - throwing paving stones and firecrackers and looting stores.

"I've seen a lot of demonstrations, some more violent than others, but I've never seen anything like this," said Carlo Varesi, 65, the longtime owner of a nearby bar.

Riots in Milan worsened on Sunday after starting in the afternoon, with clashes with police, and looting of shops in the city center by groups of young people.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called an emergency meeting for Monday, according to Italian media. "Demonstrating is a right; setting our cities on fire is not," she said on Saturday.

Belgium

Protests also took place in Belgium on Saturday, the latest in a series of demonstrations in the country in recent weeks. Some 150 people were arrested, Le Soir reported.

Unions have been staging strikes over proposed measures being discussed by the Belgian government, which is struggling to get its budget plan through its five-party coalition this month, while student protests have taken place in Brussels and the southern city of Liege over education cuts.

In Portugal, hundreds of tents populated Lisbon's Rossio Square and Porto's Praca de D. Joao I on Sunday, with protesters saying they intended to continue their action indefinitely. No police intervention was reported overnight, according to public broadcaster RTP.

The demonstrations followed a police operation to clear a housing protest camp in Porto earlier in the week that organizers said left about 40 people injured. The protests have broadened into a national campaign over unaffordable rents, low wages and rising food and fuel prices.

Some demands received the support of Bank of Portugal Governor Alvaro Santos Pereira, who said on Oct. 7 that the country was not responding with sufficient urgency to the housing crisis.