Violent protests in France for pension reform leave hundreds injured

The riots into which some of the demonstrations on Thursday March 23 in France against the pension reform led to 457 arrests by law enforcement, including 441 injured officers.

(Also read: Carlos III’s visit to France was postponed due to protests against the reform).

The figures were given by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who in an interview with the channel CNews He pointed to the extreme left as responsible for the acts of violence that occurred on the sidelines of the marches organized by the unions against the reform of the Government.

“The extreme left wants to attack the Republic and a message of condemnation must be given,” stressed the minister, who acknowledged that the unions have already denounced the violence, but not all the opposition.

He insisted on defending the action of the 12,000 mobilized police and gendarmes, who “protected the protesters” called by the unions in more than 300 parades throughout the country.

According to his own figures, there were around a million demonstrators (3.5 million, according to one of the convening centrals).

(Keep reading: Pressure continues in France against Macron’s approved pension reform.)

But he noted that “this important mobilization goes hand in hand with a radicalization of a small part”, in particular “of the extreme left” that made itself felt in Paris, but also in other cities where there were serious riots, such as Rennes, in Nantes, in Lorient or in Bordeaux.

In Paris, He said that in Paris there were “1,500 vandals” who went ahead of the union procession and attacked the agents with Molotov cocktails, with cobblestones and with iron bars.

The Department of the Interior recorded 903 fires involving street furniture and containers that in some districts of Paris, as in other cities, have been accumulating due to the garbage collection strike for more than two weeks.

Darmanin said that the president, Emmanuel Macron (who is participating in the European Union summit in Brussels), and the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, “are concerned first of all about the protesters, who have been able to demonstrate in good conditions.” , but also “by the radicalization of a small part”.

Asked whether the pension reform law should be renounced in the current situation, his response was: “I don’t think this text should be withdrawn due to violence. If not, the Republic does not exist.”

Moreover, it justified its application despite the great unpopularity of this reform, which delays the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64: “It’s not very popular, but you have to be brave.”

(We recommend: Macron compares protests against his reform with an assault on the US Capitol.)

“The unpopularity that stems from the pension reform (…) shows that politicians are also there for the next generation and not just for the next election.”

King Carlos III postpones visit to France

French President Emmanuel Macron said the visit of British King Charles III, postponed due to protests against the pension reform, could take place at the beginning of summer (boreal).

“We would not be serious and would err on the side of common sense, if we propose to the king and queen consort [Camila] come for a state visit in the midst of the demonstrations,” Macron told a press conference in Brussels after a European summit.

The monarch had initially planned to travel to Paris during March, his first trip abroad since he ascended the throne in September 2022.

“We have proposed that at the beginning of summer, depending on our respective agendas, we can jointly set a new state visit” by King Carlos III, Macron explained from Brussels, where he is participating in a European summit.

EFE and AFP

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