Hundreds of thousands of protesters march across France for third week in a row
Cities across Europe faced wave of protests against rising cost of living.
Over the past three weeks, millions of individuals have taken to the streets of France in protest against rising living expenses and declining school conditions. This wave of youth-led demonstrations has now spread to neighboring Italy and Germany as well. As the presidential election approaches in six months' time, major French cities such as Paris, Lyon, and Marseille have hosted marches on three consecutive Saturdays.
The French interior ministry reported that 320,000 people participated in Saturday's largely peaceful protests across the nation. However, student unions estimate the number to be as high as half a million, including 200,000 in Paris alone. Police arrests were notably lower than previous demonstrations, though tensions and confrontations did arise in Marseille, Paris, and Lyon as the marches dispersed.
French authorities described the nationwide situation as "generally calm" in the early afternoon, despite deploying 70,000 police officers to maintain order. This surge in protests prompted the French government to impose fines of €150 for those wearing face coverings. Youth-led protests have also erupted in other European cities like Rome, Milan, Berlin, and Frankfurt.
These protests against the cost of living and, in Germany, military spending, were sparked by a youth-led initiative called Gen Z reg Holt (Gen Z gets things done). In Germany, police canceled a planned march in Cologne due to some participants wearing masks and setting off smoke bombs.
In Italy, police conducted 60 searches across 23 cities to apprehend individuals suspected of inciting violence during mass demonstrations on Friday, according to ANSA news agency.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
