Clashes in France, Lecornu: new curfews to be imposed tonight where necessary
After 11 pm, centres were closed in Paris, Lyon, Nice and Lille. Marseille has banned gatherings. Moscow is gloating, whilst Trump threatens: ‘With migrants, the US is out’
France has imposed curfews – for the time being only ‘partial and localised’ – following the destruction and looting in cities during the protests against the high cost of living. During the night of Monday to Tuesday 20 October in Paris, Lyon, Nice and Lille.
The Paris police, for example, say they have imposed a night-time curfew in two areas of the French capital ‘to protect people and property from violence and looting’. The statement issued this morning specifies that the measures ban gatherings and demonstrations and impose a curfew that prohibits anyone from entering or loitering near Place de la République, where the unrest took place on Saturday. The shopping district of Les Halles, which was the scene of looting, was also included in the curfew. The measure remained in force from 11.00 pm on Monday until 6.00 am on Tuesday.
In Marseille, gatherings have been banned. The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunez, has admitted that in some cities the police have ‘lost control’ and offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Emmanuel Macron. But tensions show no sign of abating. Some student committees have blocked yesterday morning access to the Louvre, whilst the yellow vests have announced a ‘second act’ of the protest for Saturday.
And that’s not all: as announced on X by the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu the day after the first measures came into force – measures which ‘helped to ensure a peaceful night’. “Tonight, new curfews will be imposed where the situation requires it. These decisions will be taken locally by the prefects, in collaboration with the mayors,” wrote the head of government.
The Kremlin is gloating: ‘There is a serious crisis in France and Italia; it’s verging on chaos.’ Even the President of the United States Donald Trump, in the run-up to mid-term elections, has had his say: the United States will have to withdraw from Europe if it were to ‘succumb to the invasion’ of migrants. ‘If they don’t find the right path soon, we’ll have no choice but to leave,’ said the tycoon during a rally in Kansas, speaking about the protests in France. Trump then pointed out that ‘when we asked Iran for help, they didn’t lend us a hand, and yet we spend so much on NATO. ‘That is something we will never forget,’ Trump insisted. ‘Left-wing politicians have brought in millions and millions of migrants from the Third World. We will not allow that to happen to our country.’
