Order is being restored in the country, said French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Monday, after nearly a week of riots and tension sparked by a police officer killing a 17-year-old during a traffic stop.
“The priority is to ensure the return of republican order”, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Monday evening after she received leaders of parliament’s various political groups.
“Order is being restored,” said Darmanin, noting that police presence will be maintained “until calm is completely restored”.
Though tensions have seemingly started to ease, clashes continued Monday night, which, as Borne confirmed, saw the deployment of 45,000 police officers and gendarmes.
Compared to previous nights, fewer arrests and fewer fires were recorded Monday night.
Around 160 arrests were made over Monday night, a far cry from the 1,300 arrests between Friday and Saturday.
Still, police “made 3,200 arrests in three days, which is unprecedented”, said Darmanin.
On top of that, the rioters are extremely young – with an average age of 17 – just over half of whom are “unknown to the police”, according to a memo from the French territorial intelligence services quoted by Le Monde.
The intelligence services also point to the decline in violence over the last few days but warn that tensions could flare up again in the near future, particularly on 13 and 14 July, around Bastille Day.
On Monday, rallies were held across France to call for a return to calm and show support for the institutions and individuals attacked.
President Emmanuel Macron is due to meet 220 mayors of municipalities that have been involved in violence on Tuesday.
(Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr)
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