France braces for nationwide protests over living costs and education

• Protesters in France called for nationwide demonstrations on Saturday over rising living costs, alongside students campaigning against education conditions.

• Authorities expected hundreds of protest actions and more than 80 marches, with restrictions and Metro closures imposed in Paris.

• President Emmanuel Macron urged calm as concerns over violence and injuries to young demonstrators intensified.

Protesters across France called for demonstrations on Saturday against rising living costs, broadening a mobilisation driven by high school students who have blockaded schools for more than three weeks over education conditions.

Appeals circulating on social media sought to revive the yellow vest movement, which began in 2018 amid anger over social inequality. Student groups protesting since mid-September also urged supporters to take part.

The CGT, one of the country’s major trade unions, backed the mobilisation, demanding better wages and pensions, reduced prices and stronger public services.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said authorities expected hundreds of actions across the country, including more than 80 marches, as well as spontaneous gatherings and blockades.

In Paris, a march was scheduled to leave Place de la République in the early afternoon. Police prohibited several other proposed gatherings in central areas of the capital.

Numerous Metro stations were closed on Saturday at police request, including stops around the Champs-Elysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government buildings.

Speaking in Brussels on Friday, President Emmanuel Macron defended the constitutional right to demonstrate but urged participants to respect people and property. He said that right carried a responsibility to avoid abuse and destruction, and condemned the prospect of people joining solely to damage property or provoke unrest.

The planned demonstrations follow weeks of student protests marked by thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and fires at schools. The unrest has attracted international attention and become an issue in the country’s presidential election campaign.

Serious injuries suffered by some teenage protesters have heightened scrutiny of police crowd-control tactics. Nunez suspended the use of one type of stun grenade against young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.

Students have continued their campaign amid the controversy. On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined protesters at a high school in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris.

With PTI inputs