Students, unions and Yellow Vests stage mass protests across France

Tens of thousands of people were expected to take part in mass demonstrations across France, bringing together high school and university students, trade unions and remaining members of the Yellow Vest movement to protest rising prices and what they say is an erosion of the French social model.

Clashes in Paris as authorities try to contain unrest

Violent confrontations erupted around noon at Place de la République in Paris, the departure point for a planned large protest march. Police repeatedly used tear gas to disperse crowds after some demonstrators — including people dressed in black and wearing masks — threw pyrotechnic devices.

The protests follow a first wave of unrest that began last month in high schools in poor northern Paris suburbs, where complaints about understaffing and dilapidated buildings quickly expanded into a national movement over inequality, insufficient public funding and falling living standards.

"Everywhere there is a lot of discontent and anger, so it sends a strong message that we are all together. The fact that this Saturday we will all take to the streets, not just high school students, shows there is a general, shared dissatisfaction and that we all agree on that," said a French high school student.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned authorities fear disorder during the demonstrations and described the unrest as among the most violent in recent decades, saying more than 900 police officers have been injured since the protests began. Police have also faced criticism over the severity of some injuries, including a case in which a minor lost the palm of a hand after picking up a stun grenade.

France's police oversight body is investigating at least twenty cases of alleged police violence. The government halted the use of stun grenades during student marches, but Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said they could be used for the weekend demonstrations: "In the event of clashes, all kinds of coercive means may be used," he said.

Calls on social media for supporters of previous protest movements to join appear to have succeeded, raising questions about how much the protests may grow. The government has accused the far-left movement La France Insoumise of stoking the unrest, a claim the movement denies. Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally and currently leading polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, said he expected violent protests and warned of a chaotic weekend.

Investors have pulled capital from French sovereign debt, lifting borrowing costs to their highest level in more than two decades. President Emmanuel Macron appealed for calm ahead of the protests: "The right to protest and freedom of expression are constitutionally guaranteed, but they also carry responsibility and respect for people and their property. Therefore I call for calm and for peaceful, responsibly organized protests. Violence, destruction of property and provoking disorder are unacceptable," he said.

Photo: EPA/YOAN VALAT