As of 6 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Moscow time), at least 820,000 protesters are taking part in the rallies, according to the unions. The record turnout to date was recorded on March 7, with 1.3 million demonstrators, according to the Interior Ministry, and 3.5 million, according to unions.
Some 800,000 people demonstrated in Paris on Thursday, a spokesman for the national CGT union told AFP. This is the highest figure declared by the union since the beginning of the movement, the previous record in the capital dating from March 7, when, according to the CGT, 700,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Paris (81,000, according to the prefecture). Several cities broke their records – these are Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Rouen, Tarbes, Pau, Toulon, Arras, Poitiers and Arles. In Paris, the march reached its end point at the Place de l’Opéra, where the tension is high, reports Le Figaro. Devices with water cannons and fences have been installed throughout the area to prevent flooding.
In the afternoon, clashes between police and demonstrators against the pension reform began in various cities in France. About 500 “yellow vests” and 500 radical elements were to take part in Paris, and “in the provinces, ultra-left demonstrations will take place in more than ten cities”, indicated the French police in – noon. In the capital of the country, demonstrators and police clashed on the boulevard des Capucines, just opposite the place de l’Opéra. It happened when several hundred radical elements dressed in black smashed shop windows and street stalls, according to France Info.
Demonstrators throw stones at the police, the police retaliate with tear gas. Fireworks are observed. Place de l’Opéra is covered with tear gas. According to the police, 26 people were arrested in Paris. In Lyon, 11 people were arrested, three police officers were injured. A protester’s thumb was torn off in Rouen. According to the city police department, 8 people were arrested. In Saint-Nazaire, in the Loire-Atlantique department, a hundred opponents of the pension reform blocked the bridge, which is closed due to deterioration until further notice.
The BNP Paribas bank on the Italian boulevard was blocked by the attackers. A kiosk is set on fire near the building and the police intervene to reduce tensions.
Protesters were angered by Emmanuel Macron’s televised speech on Wednesday, in which he said protests were ‘legal’ but would not lead to the repeal of a controversial pensions law that not only raises the age official pension, but also obliges workers to contribute longer in retirement. retirement system. . The French president has been accused of showing “contempt and arrogance” towards those who oppose the changes that became the cornerstone of his campaign last year. In his 30-minute TV interview on Wednesday, Macron ruled out dissolving parliament, reshuffling his centrist government and resigning his prime minister, Elisabeth Bourne, as demanded by the opposition.
In the meantime
Images have circulated on the net that speak of the behavior of the President of France, who wants to appear closer to the people. At the start of the interview, when the camera switched to the presenters, he took his luxury watch worth around 80,000 euros from under the table and was already without them in the following shots.
