French authorities have imposed local curfews and restrictions on public gatherings in several cities, including Paris, Lille and Nice, following a weekend of riots and looting that intensified pressure on the government over security failures.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ruled out a blanket curfew across Paris but said localised restrictions were more appropriate for now, while leaving open the possibility of declaring a state of emergency.
“My determination to restore order is absolute,” Lecornu told reporters.
Paris police announced restrictions on protests in parts of the capital from 8 p.m. on Monday, alongside overnight curfews around Place de la République and Les Halles from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
In Lille, Douai, Wattignies and Denain, a curfew for minors was imposed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two days, following consultations with local mayors, a source in Lecornu’s office said.
Nice Mayor Eric Ciotti also announced an overnight curfew for minors in the city centre, while Marseille banned gatherings and demonstrations.
The unrest followed weeks of student demonstrations and nationwide protests over the cost of living and rising fuel prices, exposing growing public frustration with services, economic pressures and government policies ahead of France’s next presidential election.
Lecornu blamed far-left groups for some of the worst unrest in years, saying a movement was seeking to provoke serious disruption ahead of the election.
Hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon challenged the prime minister to provide evidence, saying he should apologise if he could not substantiate the accusation.
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The Federation of Trade and Retail said nearly 3,000 shops had been affected by the weekend’s violence and looting. It called for social security and tax relief for businesses hit by the unrest.
Lecornu said the government would introduce furlough measures from Tuesday to support affected businesses.
The Interior Ministry said about 2,400 people had been arrested and nearly 1,000 officers injured. One protester died from a cardiac arrest on Saturday.
President Emmanuel Macron rejected an offer by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez to resign, instead instructing him to address the barricades and looting and ensure transparency over what Macron described as failures in intelligence and foresight.
The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon said in a joint opinion article that they had never before felt that entire sections of their cities had been left without protection during demonstrations.
France deployed 60,000 police officers and other security personnel on Saturday, but Nuñez acknowledged that the numbers had been insufficient to control violent crowds.
The unrest has also unsettled financial markets as the government faces pressure to pass a budget aimed at controlling public finances. Meanwhile, Macron travelled to Kuwait as part of a Gulf visit focused on securing additional petrol and diesel supplies to help reduce fuel prices.
