France braces for new round of student and Yellow Vest protests

France is preparing for its fourth weekend of large-scale demonstrations as student protests over living costs and the state of education continue unabated. On Saturday, students and labor unions are set to participate in an authorized march in central Paris, protesting the high cost of living and advocating for young people. The country's "Yellow Vest" movement, which gained prominence eight years ago by violently protesting a proposed fuel tax hike, has refused to join the student rally.

Instead, they are calling for mass disobedience at a banned event at Paris' Place de la Concorde, near parliament and the presidential Elysée Palace.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced that 70,000 police and security forces will be deployed across the nation during the weekend, stating that authorities are prepared for potential rioters and looters. The heightened police presence follows weeks of violent mass demonstrations, including the most significant riots in recent years on October 17, which resulted in over a billion euros in damage to private and public property.

Arrests by police reached over 600 on Thursday, during a nationwide strike that included blockades and other protest actions.

While authorities claim that protests have mostly remained peaceful, numerous incidents of violent clashes with police have persisted as outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and his government grapple with public discontent over rising living costs. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is slated to meet with trade and employee unions on Monday, but organizers insist that the government must address the protesters' demands to quell anger.

According to an inter-union coalition statement published on Friday, the only way to end the protests is for the government to respond to the demands put forward by workers, civil servants, young people, and pensioners over the past few weeks.

The current round of protests began with students advocating for educational system improvements, unions demanding wage hikes and tax reforms. The Macron government has pledged to raise the minimum wage, increase funding for schools and teachers, but faces a challenging fiscal situation with debt at 119% of GDP in the EU's second-largest economy.