Protests that began over living costs, schools and public services have spread into arson and looting, prompting troop deployments and partial curfews. A blocked Louvre, spillover in Europe and higher bond yields add political and fiscal worry.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu asked local authorities to impose partial curfews after the weekend's protests turned to looting and arson, and he did not rule out declaring a national state of emergency. According to Segye Ilbo and JKN, access around Place de la Republique and Les Halles in Paris was restricted from 11 p.m. on the 19th to 6 a.m. on the 20th, followed by a second night of measures on the 20th.
광고 문의 · 300×250Lecornu said the government would not yield to violence and framed the crisis as a choice between violence and the Republic. He accused far-left and criminal groups of stoking chaos ahead of next year's presidential election. Whether he literally used a phrase such as plotting a rebellion, as some Korean headlines put it, could not be confirmed; what is confirmed is the charge that they are trying to manipulate the election.
Troops and night curfews
JKN reports that the interior ministry will redirect soldiers from the military's anti-terror Sentinelle patrols to internal security duties so police and gendarmes can focus on public order. The prime minister said Saturday's deployment, for a second protest called for the 24th, would be massive. The number of troops had not been disclosed at press time.
Curfews differ by place. Lille imposed limits on minors, while Nice and Marseille adopted restrictions focused on commercial districts. Outlets gave Paris start times of both 8 p.m. (a gathering ban) and 11 p.m. (an access limit), apparently because measures differ by designated zone; a precise map could not be confirmed. Museums were hit as well. Per United Daily News and Segye Ilbo, protesters including art-school and high-school students blocked the entrances to the Louvre's glass pyramid and underground mall side, keeping the museum shut. No official reopening date had been confirmed at press time.
The government said about 2,330 people were detained over the weekend and more than 3,000 shops nationwide were damaged. JKN, citing the justice minister's figures for the 20th, reports 2,500 arrests since the 17th, with more than 800 referred to prosecutors. In Limoges the town hall was set on fire, and a man linked to a far-left movement was arrested as a suspect.
The protests began last month with high-school students demanding better school conditions and widened to prices, wages and weak public investment. Pressian reports 550,000 participants by the government count and 800,000 by organizers. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez admitted that far more people turned up than expected and offered to resign; President Emmanuel Macron declined.
Spillover in Europe and market jitters
The unrest is crossing borders. United Daily News reports protests in Albania, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Germany, with stones thrown in Milan's Duomo square. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged people not to turn our cities into battlefields.
Markets reacted. JKN reports that France's 10-year yield rose as high as 4.96% on the 20th and the spread over German bunds widened to 1.54 percentage points. A Morningstar DBRS official put the economic cost at 1 to 1.2 billion euros. Taiwanese outlets such as Liberty Times said European shares kept falling, but the size of the drop could not be verified.
Third-Party View and Outlook
Pressian cites analysts saying that, about six months before the election, the turmoil has opened a highway for Marine Le Pen. Le Monde warned that violence undermines the legitimacy of social movements and feeds the far right, while also saying Macron's government had ignored such movements for a decade. US President Donald Trump blamed immigration, adding fuel to the debate inside and outside France.
The next tests are the second protest announced for the 24th by Yellow Vest activists and a union strike on November 5. Whether the government uses troops only as a backup and opens dialogue, or turns uniformly hard-line and deepens grievances, will shape how far unease spreads across Europe. France, with a deficit of 5.4 percent of GDP, must also find a way out between austerity and demands for relief.
