PARIS (Reuters) – Overnight curfews in violence-hit zones of France’s biggest cities helped bring respite from the nation’s worst unrest in years, the government said, ahead of more protests planned for the weekend.
Buoyed by protests in France, crowds have also taken to the streets in other countries, including Italy and Albania, where similar anger over living conditions has led to clashes.
Reeling from a weekend of violence, the French government tried to reassure the public it had learned from security shortcomings that left the centres of cities such as Paris, Marseille and Lyon largely unprotected from rioters and looters moving in after demonstrations.
“The targeted curfews have contributed to the calm of last night,” Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a post on X, adding they may be extended further into the week where needed.
In central Paris, police emptied and guarded the Place de la Republique overnight, with a helicopter overhead. In Lille, in the north, where the curfew only applied to minors, officers patrolled the city centre, checking bypassers’ identities.
Marseille mayor Benoit Payan said there would be curfews for minors around the commercial areas hardest hit by the weekend’s riots, starting Tuesday night.
High-school pupil strikes and demonstrations against falling standards and growing dilapidation have converged with a broader outpouring of anger at rising prices and the sense that health, housing and welfare needs are also no longer being met.
