Protests France, today demonstrations by students and yellow vests. Unrest is feared

In France, the new act of mobilization is awaited which, last Saturday, united students, yellow vests and trade unions. New unrest is feared: over 70 thousand police officers, gendarmes and firefighters have been deployed throughout the country. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez spoke of "calls on social media to carry out violent acts and looting": "We will be absolutely inflexible." President Emmanuel Macron also called for a hard line. Demonstrations banned or restricted in several cities

Saturday of protests and demonstrations not only in Italy but also in France: the new act of mobilization which, last Saturday, united students, yellow vests and trade unions is expected in several French cities. New unrest is feared: over 70 thousand police officers, gendarmes and firefighters have been deployed throughout the country. After the looting and fires that occurred on the sidelines of the demonstrations last week, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez assured the commitment of the security forces to prevent those scenes from happening again: the toll was 3,000 shops damaged, burned or looted, a town hall destroyed in Limoges, and hundreds of millions in damage. "We will be absolutely inflexible", reiterated the minister, who spoke of "calls on social media to carry out violent acts and looting". French President Emmanuel Macron also called for a hard line against those responsible for the riots, who were arrested and are now on immediate trial.

Limitations on demonstrations

The French authorities, in several cities, have decided to restrict the scope of freedom to demonstrate: in general, only protests called by trade unions are allowed. A decision, supported by Macron, which led the opposition to speak of "freedom-killing" behavior. Urgent appeals were also presented to the Council of State against the directive to the prefects, announced by the president, which led to the ban on taking to the streets in cities such as Lyon, Metz, Nancy, Besançon. At the last minute, however, a route was agreed for the event to take place in Marseille. In Paris an agreement was reached between the CGT union and the prefect for a demonstration on the most classic route, from Bastille to Nation. The yellow vests, who wanted to march from the Bastille to the historic centre, concluding the procession at Place de l'Opéra, were instead denied approval for the route.

The students

For this new Saturday of mobilisations, however, according to observers, high school and university students no longer seem to be the driving force as at the beginning: their demonstrations started the protests, but it is not certain that even today the very young will be present in the streets in massive numbers. In the last few hours, among other things, the representatives of all the student organizations were received at the Elysée by Macron with results described as discreet.