New cycle demonstrations, strikes, but also incidents developed over the course of France on occasion Macron’s pension reform.

On Thursday afternoon, police fired tear gas to push back anti-authoritarian groups in Paris.

Teamsblack block» smashed shop windows, destroyed benches and ransacked a restaurant of a well-known chain.

Clashes ensued as APU forces pushed them back with tear gas and stun grenades.

Shortly before dark, the focus of the clashes was in the city of opera house areawhere groups of protesters set fire to facilities.

OUR Le Monde conveyed that 80 people were arrestedit became known that 123 police officers were injured.

Unions have expressed fear that the protests could become more violent if the government does not heed growing popular anger.

LIVE image from the streets of Paris

Video of the entire demo

Conflicting assessments of participation

According to French police, Paris they showed about them 83,000 people. Union CGT reported that the number of protesters was 800 000.

The CGT also estimated that more than 3.5 million protesters took part in the protests across France, but the interior ministry put the number at 1.8 million.

Earlier, protesters, expressing their dissatisfaction with the French president and his plan to raise the retirement age, blocked access to the airport terminal in Paris, sat on railway tracks, clashed with police and threw objects at the police station.

Police fired tear gas at protesters Nantes. IN Wren they used water cannons. Besides, in LorianThe Ouest-France newspaper reported that Molotov cocktails caused a fire in the courtyard of the police station.

airport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle outside of Paris became the center of protest activity.

Near Toulousepiles of burning debris blocked traffic on the highway.

“There is a lot of anger here, an explosive situation,” said the head of the CGT union. Philip Martinezin the context of the meeting in Paris.

Macron broke weeks of silence, stating that the law will come into force before the end of the year. She even compared the protests to her invasion. January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol.

Polls show that the majority of voters are against raising the retirement age by 2 years, from 62 to 64 years.

Voters were even more outraged by the government’s decision last week to push through pension changes without a vote.

“I’m on strike to protest the pension reform and also what’s going on in the government,” said the 27-year-old Air France planning manager. Lucille Bidetat a rally in Nantes, and added: “They don’t listen to people anymore.”

“He is the one who sets the country on fire,” she said. Celine Verzeletti CGT on France Inter radio station.

The protests targeted oil depots and blocked an LNG terminal in her city. Dunkirk.

Protests against the new law have drawn huge crowds at union rallies since last January.

Initial protests were peaceful, but anger escalated after the government bypassed a vote in the lower house, where it does not have an absolute majority and is not sure it will get enough support.

Since then last week there have been protests in Paris and other cities, and there have been cases of protesters clashing with police.

The latest wave of protests represents the biggest challenge to President Macron’s rule since the uprising.”Yellow vests“, four years ago.

“The road is legalized in France. If Mr Macron can’t remember this historical reality, I don’t know what he’s doing here,” said the 42-year-old entertainment show worker. Willie Mansall at a meeting in Nantes.

The loss of wages due to strikes is having a negative impact on a period of high inflation, and the government is hopeful that the protests will eventually subside.

Minister of Labor Olivier Dussop he said the government was not denying the problems but wanted to move on.

Reuters