PARIS (Reuters) – France will reinforce police with troops and mount a huge security operation for more protests planned on Saturday, the government said on Tuesday, acknowledging failures in its response to last weekend’s violence.
“The deployment next Saturday will be massive,” Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, adding that the immediate priority was to restore order after rioting and looting swept Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities on October 17.
In a sometimes rowdy debate, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the military would be deployed alongside police, while the government pledged to overhaul tactics after widespread criticism that city centres had been left vulnerable.
Framing the crisis as a choice “between violence and the Republic”, Lecornu blamed the unrest on far-left groups, who in turn have accused the government of underestimating public anger over high living costs and declining public services.
The unrest shocked France because of both its scale and the apparent inability of police to contain it, inflaming tensions ahead of presidential elections next year with candidates from the far right and hard left performing strongly in polls.
Protests in other European countries, including Italy and Albania, have added to concerns that anger over living standards risks spreading around the continent at a time when many nations, including France, are struggling with budget woes.
A night of relative calm in France followed targeted curfews imposed in several areas affected by the turmoil, which the government said had helped reassert control.
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.
