Violent confrontations erupted in cities across France on Saturday as nationwide demonstrations entered their fourth week. Earlier this week, President Emmanuel Macron issued some of his strongest remarks yet on the unrest, which comes as he begins the final six months of his presidency.
At the weekly cabinet meeting, Macron “stressed that young people have legitimate concerns,” government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told AFP. However, she said, those concerns are “being exploited for political purposes and turned into urban violence.” Bregeon added that Macron had instructed ministers to develop “concrete responses” to the unrest within weeks.
The comments came as a national day of protests over the rising cost of living, along with student grievances, descended into violence in Paris and other major cities. Many demonstrations remained peaceful, but police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse violent groups in the capital. At the Place de la République, hooded and masked demonstrators threw fireworks and other objects at officers. The Interior Ministry reported attacks on police, looting and damage to public buildings, putting the nationwide arrest total at least 272.
A protester faces off with French riot police amid clashes during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices at the Place de la Republique in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, Oct. 17, 2026. (Jack Taylor/Reuters)
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu took a harder line than Macron, accusing allies of the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party of “instrumentalizing” the student movement “for electoral reasons.” LFI’s presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, took part in one of this week’s Paris demonstrations, while the party’s councilors, deputies and mayors have joined student blockades in several cities.
The elections to succeed the term-limited Macron are scheduled for April and May, giving opposition parties an opportunity to capitalize on the unrest. Marine Le Pen, the leading candidate from the conservative National Rally, has backed the police and blamed students for the violence.
Firefighters tackle burning emergency vehicle during student protests in Paris. (Reuters)
Students, labor unions, rights organizations and parents, meanwhile, have accused police of using excessive force against demonstrators.
AFP reported that the Interior Ministry has launched internal investigations into 36 allegations of police violence against protesters. The national police union, Alliance Police Nationale, said it had also sued the government, accusing it of “putting lives in danger” through what the union described as “contradictory orders” issued to officers deployed during the demonstrations.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech as he visits the Istres military air force base, southern France, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni, Pool) (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni, Pool)
The Alliance said officers felt “betrayed, abandoned, left to fend for themselves” by political leaders because of what it called “unclear instructions” and public expressions of “empathy towards the rioters.”
“This is the country of the French Revolution. Everyone boasts about it,” Walid Hrar, a police officer and union representative, told The Associated Press. “Some political parties don’t hesitate to say that we need to disobey the law. That’s what Robespierre and other revolutionaries taught us in 1789.”
A protester throws a projectile through tear gas amid clashes with the French riot police at the Place de la Republique during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, Oct. 17, 2026. (REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq )
“France always tends to react rather than anticipate,” he said. “In other words, we’re always going to extremes.”
Speaking on the sidelines of Friday’s European Council summit in Brussels, Macron renewed his call for calm. “There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself,” he said. “But this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.”
Lecornu told Parliament that 937 police officers and 149 teachers and school employees had been injured since the protests began. The French Justice Ministry said nearly 8,000 people had been arrested.
The demonstrations have crossed into neighboring Belgium, where several hundred mostly young people protested in Brussels on Saturday, according to Reuters. Police clashed with demonstrators whose actions were at least partly inspired by events in France. A similar protest took place in the French-speaking city of Liège. Student groups said they were challenging rising education costs and proposed reforms they believe would make higher education less accessible.
Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin wrote on X that the situation in his country “is no longer mere protest! It is pure and simple violence, organized and repeated to destabilize our society… All necessary means will be used to restore order in the face of the rioters.”
Smaller solidarity demonstrations were also held in neighboring Luxembourg and in French-speaking areas of Switzerland. Those events remained peaceful, and no arrests were reported. Students in India held separate protests over education issues this week, but there appeared to be no connection to the unrest in France.
French authorities hope the protest movement will lose momentum in the coming days, with schools across the country closed until Nov. 2 for the Toussaint, or All Saints’, holiday.
