France will deploy military personnel alongside police and launch a large-scale security operation ahead of further protests scheduled for Saturday, as the government acknowledges shortcomings in its response to last weekend’s violence.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday that security arrangements would be significantly strengthened following riots and looting that affected Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities on 17 October.
“The deployment next Saturday will be massive,” Lecornu said, identifying the restoration of public order as the government’s immediate priority.
During a sometimes heated parliamentary debate, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed that troops would support police operations. The government also pledged to revise its security tactics after facing widespread criticism that city centres had been left exposed to violence and looting.
Targeted curfews help restore calm
Lecornu described the situation as a choice “between violence and the Republic” and blamed far-left groups for the unrest. Those groups, in turn, accused the government of overlooking public anger over rising living costs and deteriorating public services.
The scale of the violence and the apparent inability of police to contain it have shocked France, intensifying political tensions ahead of next year’s presidential election. Candidates from both the far right and the hard left have been performing strongly in opinion polls.
Protests in other European countries, including Italy and Albania, have further raised concerns that frustration over living standards could spread across the continent. Several countries, including France, are also grappling with budgetary pressures.
France experienced a relatively calm night after authorities imposed targeted curfews in several areas affected by the unrest. The government said the measures had helped restore control, while police confirmed that the local restrictions had been extended through Tuesday night. Some curfews specifically targeted children and teenagers under 18.
Lecornu acknowledged that the state’s response had fallen short, citing intelligence failures and police deployments that were too static. He also said authorities had made a mistake by failing to cancel planned police leave.
Nunez apologised for the shortcomings and accepted responsibility for his part in the response.
“I deeply regret what happened. I accept my share of responsibility,” he said.
Suspect arrested over limoges town hall fire
Parliament is establishing a commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of the unrest. Meanwhile, authorities have assigned 200 investigators to identify and track down those involved in the street violence.
Police arrested a man on Tuesday suspected of starting a fire that destroyed a historic town hall in Limoges, a city in central France. Officials said the suspect had been on a security watch list and was affiliated with an ultra-left group.
Sylvain Maillard, a Renaissance party lawmaker representing Paris, told Reuters that some mobile applications had effectively become “a walkie-talkie system for rioters and looters”.
The crisis has also affected financial markets. French borrowing costs climbed further on Tuesday as investors assessed the risk of renewed unrest. The yield on benchmark 10-year government bonds reached its highest level in 24 years.
Supermarket chain Carrefour said theft and property damage had cost it tens of millions of euros, describing the disruption as an “unprecedented situation”.
More protests planned over living costs, education
France’s main student union, UNEF, has called for further demonstrations on Saturday, pledging to continue its campaign against what it describes as a deteriorating and underfunded education system under President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
“We carry on,” the union said in a social media post.
Separately, groups identifying themselves as “Gilets Jaunes”, or Yellow Vests, announced plans for protest actions over rising fuel costs.
The Yellow Vest movement, which has been largely inactive in recent years, emerged in 2018 during Macron’s first term in response to plans to increase petrol taxes. Traffic blockades continued for months before the government made costly concessions.
The renewed unrest comes as France faces mounting budgetary pressures that could make similar concessions difficult to afford.
Nationwide demonstrations took place on October 17, with the government estimating that around 550,000 people participated. Organisers put the turnout at 800,000. Some protests descended into violent clashes, and official figures showed that at least 3,000 shops were looted across the country.
