French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a crisis meeting in Paris at 1 p.m. on the ongoing riots in his country. He is in Brussels on the final day of the EU summit, but he will go to Paris for deliberations anyway.
The right-wing opposition has pushed for the declaration of a state of emergency, which gives governments and police more powers, but Macron’s government would not feel much for it yet. In similar riots in November 2005, then-President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency.
It was the third night of looting, arson and attacks on government buildings and property. Nearly 250 officers were injured. The reason is the death of a 17-year-old motorist in Nanterre, who was fatally injured when he drove away from a traffic control that was carried out by two motorcycle police officers. Nahel will be buried in Nanterre on Saturday, according to French news channel BFMTV.
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A gathering ban is in place in several cities. According to the Interior Ministry, 667 people have already been arrested across the country, more than 300 of them in the Paris region. Most of those arrested are said to be between 14 and 18 years old.
The police have deployed 40,000 agents, a quarter of whom are in Paris and the surrounding area. In the center of the capital, the well-known shopping center Forum Les Halles was looted and rioters and looters targeted shops in the Rue de Rivoli.
State visit
Macron is expected in Germany on Sunday for the first official state visit by a French president in 23 years. During the three-day visit, he is scheduled to visit Ludwigsburg, Berlin and Dresden.
For the time being, there are no reports that he is not going because of the violence in his country. In March, a state visit by King Charles III to France was postponed at the last minute due to protests and disturbances over the controversial reform of the pension system.
A walker walks past the text ‘Justice for Nahel and for all others killed by the police’ in Marseille. ©AFP
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2023-06-30 08:15:27
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