Macron addresses nation after riots, looting as Trump says ‘France is burning’

Paris: Protesters clashed with police for a second day of chaos in major French cities after massive rallies descended into violence and looting over the weekend, sparking anger at the rioters and an argument among national leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence in an emergency address to the nation on Sunday night (Monday AEDT) amid a political row over whether the national government did enough to prevent the destruction.

The violence began on Saturday after 550,000 people attended rallies to protest about the cost of living and school standards, with masked rioters setting fire to cars and buildings, including the historic town hall in the city of Limoges, which was largely destroyed.

On Sunday, police fired tear gas at protesters in central Paris during a series of confrontations as the authorities sought to arrest suspects and disperse large crowds.

Fires were lit on the streets around the Place de la Republique when protesters tried to set up barricades, triggering a response from the police to assert control of the streets.

While the tear gas forced protesters to retreat quickly along the streets around the square, it did not prevent them from regrouping in new locations to try to challenge the authorities.

“France is burning!” US President Donald Trump declared on social media on Sunday.

“The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country. Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”

Trump’s comment followed a similar warning from US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday night.

“Western liberals imported the Third World into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion,” said Vance.

“They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility.”

Speaking to the nation, the French leader pledged action on education concerns, saying ministers were already working to improve schools, but also outlined tough measures against violence.

Macron said gatherings would be prohibited around major public buildings if necessary to keep the peace, and urged politicians and trade unions to condemn the violence and call for calm, a challenge to left-wing figures who support the protests.

He also highlighted the danger of political division when the nation is due to choose its next president in March and April. (Macron has served two terms and cannot run.)

“To all those who tell you today that the urgent thing to do is to take to the streets, to demonstrate, and to sow disorder – with the ultimate goal of damaging the Republic and hijacking the debate – I say this: the choices for the future that you, and all of us, will have to make in six months are vital”.

Protests spiral

The protests began last month as rallies over school quality and have featured a broad variety of young French people, many of them attending peaceful demonstrations to call for more spending on teachers and basic school facilities.

But the footage of the looting on Saturday night included young men of migrant backgrounds and intensified a debate over the link between the mob violence and migration.

The protests led to about 2000 arrests across the country, while the government said about 600 police were injured.

France is engulfed in an argument over the weekend riots and social cohesion after progressive politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of political party France Unbowed, repeatedly endorsed the protest rallies in recent weeks.

Mélenchon, who is running for president in the elections due in March and April next year, joined the rallies last Saturday.

On Sunday, he argued the protest movement was driven by genuine grievances over real issues, saying that people could no longer bear the high cost of living.

“The situation for high school students and college students is hellish. It is the widespread suffering that lies at the heart of the situation.”

Mélenchon called on Macron to freeze prices to address the social emergency, abolish the current system that dictates how school students get into university – a key complaint among protesters – and set aside €10 billion ($16 billion) for education.

He also called for public compensation for shop owners who suffered from damage and looting on the weekend.

But the left-wing stance has drawn rebukes from rivals such as Marine Le Pen, who leads the right-wing National Rally and is seeking the presidency next year on a platform of cutting migration, affirming traditional French values and cutting welfare spending.

“You saw yesterday our cities, our streets, our country, battered, mistreated, ransacked,” Le Pen said on Sunday night (Monday, AEDT)

“We are living through a profound crisis of trust, of authority that poses a threat to democracy. This observation must alert us: our country is caught in a vice, or even taken hostage, between violence and powerlessness.”

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