Macron Vows Order, Calls Foreign Criticism of French Police 'Stupid'
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Wednesday to prevent a repeat of last weekend's violence at protests planned in the coming days, calling the unrest "unacceptable." He told reporters France "has the means" to control any further trouble and said the country "doesn't need a state of emergency." Macron also said local authorities would be able to ban some demonstrations in the coming days.
Macron took aim at leaders "on the other side of the Atlantic" and in Europe, accusing them of "stupidly" repeating AI-generated content and spreading false narratives about France during election campaigns. He said those leaders were "using our country" for their own political campaigns and that France "doesn't need that." Without naming them, he targeted comments that NBC News and other outlets linked to Donald Trump, who blamed the riots on immigration policies, and Benjamin Netanyahu, who tied the crisis to extremist Islam. Macron dismissed the remarks as "stupid" and "unacceptable."
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez conceded that security forces were overwhelmed in some areas despite the government deploying 60,000 police officers to the streets. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said about 80 percent of those arrested were being prosecuted and that many had police records. Macron condemned "failures in anticipation and intelligence" by French authorities but refused Nunez's resignation, citing "the necessity for continued leadership of law enforcement."
According to French officials and BBC reporting, about 550,000 people took to the streets for largely peaceful protests against rising fuel prices, the cost of living and deteriorating public services. The French government said police arrested about 2,400 people. The interior ministry said about 1,000 police officers were injured on Saturday, seven of them seriously. BBC reported about 20,000 protesters joined a march in Lyon, while shops and a municipal police station were damaged in Marseille.
In a televised address on Sunday, Macron condemned the "unbridled" violence, saying "nothing justified" the scenes of unrest across France. He ordered Nunez to "take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency" over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence. Darmanin acknowledged intelligence failings had left the state vulnerable. Macron also vowed that those who sought to "bring down the Republic" would be held accountable and that looters would pay for the damage.
Government ministers have promised a "massive" and vastly reinforced security operation after acknowledging shortcomings in the initial response last weekend, with some troops expected to be deployed alongside police reinforcements. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said local prefects and mayors would draft measures to protect shops and civic buildings, and Macron did not rule out "limited" and "localised" curfews. Union representatives met Lecornu on Wednesday but no concrete announcements followed.