Student protests in France and German intelligence warnings of a Russian escalation

Classes were suspended in hundreds of secondary schools in France today (Monday), due to the student movement sweeping the country in protest against educational conditions.

However, the Ministry of Education announced that the number of schools that witnessed protests or cessation of lessons decreased to 413 today, compared to 564 last Friday, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

The Ministry pointed out that this decrease is due to “continuous dialogue” with high school students.

Some students flocked to their schools despite the continued protests at their entrances, while the country is expected to witness a broader movement on Tuesday.

Since late September, students have closed the entrances to their schools in protest against constant teacher absences, long school hours, inappropriate conditions in classrooms, and high temperatures inside, in addition to other complaints.

The government tried to respond to the demands of the protesters, accusing, at the same time, activists belonging to the radical left of riding the wave of protests.

On Sunday, French Education Minister Edouard Jeffrey announced that lessons would be suspended “completely or partially” on Monday in “400 to 500” out of 3,700 secondary schools in France.

On Monday morning, dozens of protesting students gathered in the third district in central Paris, and some cars honked their horns in support of them, while other students were heading to their classrooms.

One of the protesters carried a sign that read: “No Resources, No Silence,” while another sign read: “We are skipping our lessons, to teach you a lesson.”

In the city of Lens in the north of the country, a 15-year-old student lost his hand on Monday morning after he picked up a stun grenade thrown by the police to disperse crowds, according to a police union source.

The source explained that the student intended to pick up the bomb and throw it back, but it exploded in his hand.

In Rennes, western France, more than 20 students gathered outside Montaigne High School, one of whom carried a sign that read: “The number of teachers is insufficient.”

In the northern city of Lille, masked demonstrators destroyed bus stops and set fire to garbage containers, while police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse hundreds of them.

The protests began on September 17 at Saint-Exupéry High School in the suburb of Creteil, southeast of Paris, in support of teachers who went on strike to protest the lack of staff and resources.

The movement gradually gained momentum, before spreading to various parts of France, including acts of sabotage and clashes with the police.

According to the French Minister of Education, 24 educational institutions were “burned or vandalized” on the sidelines of the student movement that began at the beginning of the week.

The French authorities arrested more than 5,000 people, 85 percent of whom were minors.

The demonstrators accused the police of using excessive violence, while an investigation was opened into three suspected incidents of police violence.

For his part, Prime Minister Sebastian LeCorno, on Sunday, urged local authorities to give priority to filling the gaps resulting from long-term teacher absences and staff shortages, within a specific timetable.

He also called for a meeting on Tuesday with district heads to discuss the process of rehabilitating dilapidated school buildings.

The government is also considering passing a draft law in Parliament that would hold parties that damage public property responsible for paying the costs of repairing them, instead of deducting them from taxpayers’ money.

Government spokeswoman Maud Prigon defended the bill, stressing in an interview with Europe 1 and CNews: “When children at the age of 14, 15 or 16 set fires at nine o’clock in the morning at bus stations or perhaps, more seriously, in the high school in which they study, this raises questions about the responsibility of the parents.”

Locorno said that the draft law, which was first proposed before the recent protests, allows “these amounts to be deducted from subsidies allocated to families and housing, while ensuring that these families maintain a minimum income.”

For her part, the President of the General Labor Union, Sophie Binet, criticized what she described as a “populist decision,” warning that “those most affected by it will be the poorest families.”

On Monday, German intelligence accused Russia of escalating the “shadow war” it is waging against Germany, noting that this increases the risk of an armed conflict erupting.

The head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Martin Jäger, said during a hearing before the Parliament’s Intelligence Committee that “Germany faces the risk of being drawn into a violent conflict with Russia.” He stressed: “No country currently poses such a direct, comprehensive and tangible threat to Germany.”

He referred to the attempted attack that targeted a Ukrainian transport plane at Leipzig Airport last August, which was suspected to have been carried out by Russian agents, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.

Germany has repeatedly accused Russia of launching a “multi-method” campaign that includes espionage, sabotage, and other operations, which Moscow strongly denies.

Germany, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has invested record amounts of money to rebuild its military forces in the face of Russia. It became the first supporter of Ukraine in the war that Russia has been waging against it for more than 4 and a half years. Which makes it, according to the government, the first target of hostile Russian operations, ranging from media disinformation, to assassination attempts, to espionage activities.

On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made an unannounced visit to Kiev, where he announced the provision of more military aid to Ukraine, pledging to continue his support for this country.

Jäger said that Germany “has become a major obstacle to Russia’s expansion of its influence and dominance in Europe.” Which makes it “a target of Russian movements.”

He pointed out that his agency does not currently see “any indication” of Russian plans to launch a major military attack on a NATO member state, but warned that “limited Russian military activities may be carried out, especially in the Baltic countries.”

He continued that the intelligence services play an essential role in this “shadow war,” stressing the importance of a large-scale reform of the German intelligence services approved earlier this year, which allows German agents to carry out more offensive secret operations that go beyond information gathering.

For his part, the head of the Internal Intelligence Service, Sinan Selen, stressed that Russian operations go far beyond ordinary espionage operations and include “sabotage and assassination operations.”

He said that “defense industries and military infrastructure are in the line of fire,” adding that Moscow “has come to accept the possibility of civilian casualties” in its violent campaign against Germany.