Macron tightens curbs on protests, blames hard left for unrest

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that "illegitimate" protests would be banned in the ​coming days and ⁠blamed "seditious" ultra-left groups and vandals for last weekend's riots and looting.

Speaking after a meeting with ‌intelligence chiefs and senior ministers, Macron said ‌demonstrations organised by groups such as trade unions would be allowed to go ahead but could be diverted along alternative routes to protect businesses.

"Last Saturday we had political and seditious acts by ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic," he said.

His ‌comments came as authorities across France prepared for fresh protests following some of the country's worst urban unrest in years.

Justice Minister Gerald ⁠Darmanin said he wanted voting rights suspended for people who defy bans on taking part in demonstrations, and restrictions on social media access for people involved in violence, looting or attacks on police.

All protests planned for Saturday in Marseille and Lyon, France's second- and third-largest cities, have been banned, local authorities said. Yet fresh demonstrations are already taking shape before what officials fear could be another volatile weekend.

France's main student union, UNEF, has called for rallies on Saturday, while the Yellow Vest movement, the ​anti-establishment force that emerged in 2018, has filed plans for a march through central Paris.

Businesses in central Paris ‌have begun boarding up their shop windows in case of violence. Luxury goods group Hermes said it had stepped up security measures at its French stores.

Organisers of the Art Basel Paris international art collectors fair being held in a central Paris exhibition ⁠hall said it would be closed all weekend.

Elsewhere, authorities in the northern city of Orleans were bracing for potential unrest as the far-right National Rally was due to hold an annual meeting and unions and left-wing groups planned demonstrations.

A student protest called for Thursday in Paris ​was initially banned but ‌eventually allowed to go ahead, though metro stations in central Paris were nonetheless shuttered by transit authorities in anticipation of ‌unauthorised gatherings.

France was rocked on October 17 by violence on the fringes of nationwide protests, exposing the depth of public anger and raising questions about the security services' ability to keep order.

Two people have been arrested over an arson attack on Limoges city hall, French ‌officials and media ‌said.

A third consecutive night of local curfews passed without major incidents ⁠in areas affected by the violence, offering the government some respite ahead of the weekend.

The unrest ‌has laid bare a deeper malaise in France, where soaring energy costs, pressure on household budgets and concerns over deteriorating public services have fuelled growing frustration among workers and younger people.

The French political class has ⁠also descended into a bitter blame game, with the government accusing far-left political groups of stoking the unrest.

Highlighting investor ​unease, the risk premium on French government debt over safe-haven German bonds widened to its highest in 15 years on Thursday, while France's benchmark 10-year bond yield hit 5.14%, its highest level since July 2002.

Reuters