Hundreds of thousands in France have taken to the streets in major cities to protest against rising living costs and poor school conditions. These demonstrations, led primarily by young people, have been held for three consecutive weeks on Saturdays and have spread to other European countries such as Italy and Germany.
Number of protesters and conditions of the demonstrations
The French Ministry of the Interior reported that around 320,000 people took to the streets across the country on Saturday. Meanwhile, student unions estimated the number of protesters to be around 500,000, including 200,000 in Paris. The demonstrations were largely peaceful despite some tensions in the cities of Marseille, Paris, and Lyon, but security forces were put on high alert, especially in these areas.
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Attention to security and control of demonstrations
French officials described the situation as generally "calm" and deployed 70,000 police forces to prevent any unrest. While the number of arrests has decreased compared to previous demonstrations, some tensions and clashes between protesters and police were observed during the dispersal of the protests.
Many protesters participated in the demonstrations wearing Halloween costumes, while Laurent Nunez, the French Minister of the Interior, warned that covering faces could lead to fines of up to 150 euros.
Demonstrations in other European countries
In other European cities such as Rome, Milan, Berlin, and Frankfurt, demonstrations focused on the cost of living and, in Germany, military expenses were also held. These protests began in over 30 German cities due to a youth initiative called "Generation Z" and remained largely peaceful, although police canceled a planned march in Cologne due to some participants covering their faces and setting off smoke bombs.
In Italy, police conducted 60 search operations in 23 cities for individuals suspected of inciting violence during mass protests.
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