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French President Emmanuel Macron denounced on Wednesday the "stupid" and opportunistic comments made by foreign leaders such as Donald Trump regarding the riots in France, as his government finalizes a "massive" police deployment ahead of calls for new protests.
The second-largest economy in the European Union experienced one of its worst episodes of street violence in recent years this Saturday, six months before the country chooses the successor to the current center-right president.
Images of looting and burning public buildings traveled around the world. Several leaders, such as the American Trump or the Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu, and European far-right leaders shared their opinions.
Trump blamed "migrants, jihadists, and communists" for the disturbances in France, a country that Netanyahu considered a refuge for "extremist Islamism." Both are facing key legislative elections in the coming weeks.
From Doha, Macron hit back against "unacceptable" and "stupid" comments, based on AI-created images, and lamented that leaders "who are campaigning, in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic," are "campaigning at the expense" of France.
French authorities blame the riots on "far-left fringe groups," which were joined by "opportunistic criminals"—many of them young and from the suburbs—who looted hundreds of stores.
Of the approximately 2,500 people arrested, 174 are currently in prison, either awaiting trial or already sentenced, indicated Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin.
- Call for strike -
The riots took place on the sidelines of massive protests to denounce the rising cost of living and to demand better conditions for high school students.
Other European countries like Belgium and Italy also experienced demonstrations against the high cost of living, and thousands of students in Greece took to the streets this Wednesday "as in France."
The Yellow Vest movement, which shook Macron's first term in 2018 and 2019, and the students have called for demonstrations again next Saturday.
To prevent further unrest and criticism, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised a "massive" police deployment.
This will manifest in a ban on demonstrations in some areas and the deployment of armored vehicles, military personnel from the Sentinelle surveillance force, and elite police units, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Authorities also decreed for the third consecutive night on Wednesday a curfew in neighborhoods of Paris and other cities.
But beyond security, the government is under pressure from unions and the left-wing opposition to respond to the social unrest.
Lecornu met with the main union forces, who denounced the lack of concrete responses to their demands, and he will meet with political parties on Thursday.
"The time has come to increase the mobilization; the strike must take over" on November 5, called CGT union leader Sophie Binet.
Minister of Education Édouard Geffray announced that he will present his "first decisions" to student organizations on Monday.
[Publicidad]