By Elizabeth Pineau and Dominique Patton
PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to prevent a repeat of last weekend’s riots and looting, as the Yellow Vest movement filed plans for a major Paris march on Saturday that will present the government with its next big test.
Macron said on Wednesday that those seeking to cause disorder at the next protests would be stopped, while Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu met union leaders in an effort to defuse one of the worst crises France has faced in recent years.
A representative of the “Gilets Jaunes” (Yellow Vests) movement, a grassroots group not tied to the unions, presented plans for a march across the heart of Paris, including areas that were ransacked just days ago.
Student groups have also called for protests the same day to push demands for greater investment in education. Yellow Vest activists are seeking to revive their campaign, which emerged in 2018, against rising living costs and declining public services.
INVESTORS FRET, FRENCH BORROWING COSTS CLIMB
Last weekend’s demonstrations rapidly degenerated into rampant violence, especially in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Limoges, which the overwhelmed police took hours to contain.
Highlighting investor concern over the situation, French government borrowing costs have jumped this week, pushing benchmark 10-year bond yields to 5%, their highest level since July 2002.
Analysts said the move reflected worries that the unrest could complicate government efforts to repair strained public finances at a time of already mounting budget pressures.
Macron said he would meet intelligence officials, Lecornu and other ministers on Thursday to obtain a detailed account of the October 17 unrest.
“Those who want to cause disorder in city centres next Saturday will be prevented from doing so,” Macron told reporters during a visit to Qatar, where he has been seeking energy deals as France grapples with rising fuel costs.
“There must be no wavering at the top of the state.”
MACRON SAYS TRUMP SPREADING MISLEADING INFORMATION
Government ministers have promised a vastly reinforced security operation after acknowledging shortcomings in their initial response, with troops expected to be deployed alongside additional police.
Macron accused some foreign leaders of spreading misinformation about what had happened. US President Donald Trump in particular has blamed the turbulence on mass migration and radical Islam, saying it was a warning for Americans.
Asked whether he was referring to Trump, Macron said: “Among others”, adding that some foreign politicians were looking to make political capital at the expense of France. “We don’t need that. We already have difficulties to deal with,” he said.
‘LEGITIMATE ANGER’
In a letter to unions ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Lecornu said their talks should focus on ensuring “the indispensable freedom to demonstrate”, which he said some were trying to curtail by associating it with “unacceptable acts”.
France’s main unions have separately called a nationwide mobilisation for November 5.
“There is huge and legitimate anger, and the answer to that situation is not repression. It is a political response. That’s what I will tell the prime minister today,” Sophie Binet, head of the CGT union, told RTL radio.
After the meeting, Binet told reporters the government made no new announcements, but did say that youth organisations would be invited for talks.
A second consecutive night of local curfews passed without major incidents in areas hit by the unrest, offering the government some respite as it prepared for fresh demonstrations.
The unrest has triggered a political backlash ahead of presidential elections next year, with candidates from the far right and hard left performing strongly in polls.
“The government has lost control of everything,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen told Franceinfo radio.
The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), which has denied allegations by ministers of fueling the unrest, criticised plans to deploy troops onto the streets of Paris.
“Demonstrators are not enemies within. The French government must not go to war against its own people,” LFI’s parliamentary group said in a statement.
Protests in other European countries, including Italy and Albania, have added to concerns that anger over living standards risks spreading around the continent at a time when many nations, including France, are struggling with budget woes.
Italy approved a raft of security measures on Tuesday, including a new offence of violent participation in a demonstration and tougher penalties for rioters in response to the turbulence last weekend.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Bertrand Boucey, Dominique Patton, Dominique Vidalon, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Makini Brice in Paris, Amanda Cooper in London; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Philippa Fletcher)
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