PARIS — Some 70,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France on Saturday while the Louvre and several other major Paris museums will be closed as authorities seek to prevent further violence during planned protests.
Last week’s protests descended into chaos, with people setting fires, storming public buildings, smashing windows, looting and clashing with police. These are the most violent unrest that France has experienced in years.
Protesters plan to take to the streets again on Saturday to denounce the high cost of living. Students, members of the CGT and activists of the “yellow vest” movement, whose demonstrations against social injustice shook France in 2018 and 2019, are ready to join.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said some 70,000 police and gendarmes would be deployed, as well as helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons. In addition, elite police units will help secure public buildings like city halls in a “highly mobile” security operation, he added.
“There have been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism. There have also been renewed calls for looting, with these messages clearly being spread by rioters,” Nuñez said at a news conference.
“We will be absolutely uncompromising” with those involved in the violence, he added, warning that the police will have “a very firm approach to making arrests, and that there will be legal consequences”.
Parisian museums will close
In a statement to the Associated Press, the Ministry of Culture announced the closure of the Louvre, Orsay and Picasso museums as well as the Grand Palais. The ministry called on all institutions under its authority to adopt all necessary measures to ensure “the safety of visitors, the protection of staff and the preservation of works of art,” according to the press release.
After two days of invitation-only admission, Art Basel Paris opened its doors to the public on Friday, but only for the day, as the threat of unrest prompted organizers to cancel the weekend’s program. Art Basel, one of the most prestigious contemporary art fairs in the world, includes exhibitions from 211 international galleries at the Grand Palais in Paris.
“This decision was not taken lightly and the safety of everyone involved in the show remains our top priority,” organizers said in a statement on Thursday.
Saloni Doshi, an art collector who came to Paris from India for the fair, grew concerned last Saturday when she saw the fires and panicked people, and she received phone calls from friends asking if Paris was safe. She agreed with the organizers’ logic of closure.
Antoine Donzeaud and Elisa Rigoulet, the owners of the exo exo gallery, felt the same way.
“We understand this decision, which we consider reasonable and consistent with the urgency of the social demands currently developing in France,” they said in an SMS.
A demonstration against the far right is planned
A protest Saturday in the town of Orléans, about 70 miles south of Paris, will also be closely monitored.
Around fifty organizations have called for demonstrations against the far right on the sidelines of the two-day congress of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist and anti-immigration party, in the run-up to next spring’s presidential election. Organizers include unions, left-wing political parties, student organizations and anti-racist groups.
Hugues Moutouh, prefect of the Loiret region, indicated that 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators from across the country were expected.
Le Pen, who polls place ahead of next year’s elections, accused left-wing organizations and political parties of trying to “disrupt the democratic congress of a political party” on the Franceinfo news channel.
Nonetheless, she said she had “no concerns” about security because the government had “recognized the need for measures to enable the congress to take place safely.”
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