French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he will move to ban protests organized by “individuals or groups with no legitimate authority,” blaming what he called “ultra-left groups” for riots and looting that have spread across France in recent days.
The announcement came as thousands marched through Paris on Thursday, a prelude to larger demonstrations planned for this weekend. Businesses in central Paris have begun boarding up windows in anticipation of further violence, and authorities have banned Saturday’s planned protest in Lyon.
“Last Saturday we had political and seditious acts by ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic,” Macron said following a meeting with intelligence officials, according to Reuters.
Macron said the government’s approach for the coming days will be to block demonstrations called by groups without legal standing to organize them, while allowing unions that follow proper channels to proceed under modified conditions.
“Where trade unions submit requests to hold demonstrations, prefects will examine them in accordance with the law, but alternative routes will be proposed” to protect city centers, businesses and public buildings, Macron said.
“The rules are simple, and I think they’re just common sense. The general recommendation is that there should be no demonstrations in the coming days,” he said. “For those who still want to protest, if they are trade unions, prefects will propose alternative routes.”
Organizers of Thursday’s Paris march said an administrative court overturned a police-issued ban after they challenged it. The Paris police prefecture had argued the ban was necessary given the risk of street violence, after masked youths clashed with police, looted shops and set cars alight over the preceding weekend.
The unrest traces back to protests that began in France in September calling for education reform, before widening into broader anti-government demonstrations that French officials say have since been fueled by far-left groups.
On Thursday, protesters gathered peacefully and chanted in southeastern Paris under heavy police watch. The day’s march was regarded as a prelude to a larger demonstration planned for Saturday, when activists from the “yellow vest” movement — whose fuel-price protests convulsed France in 2018 and 2019 — are expected to join forces with the CGT labor union.
