The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has assured secondary school students that his government is finalizing "forceful" measures to respond to the "legitimate demands" of the student movement, which has become the epicenter of the strong social tension that has shaken the country during this month.
Again, almost half a million people have demonstrated this weekend in various French cities, called by student associations and by the 'yellow vests' movement. The former demand that Macron push for a deep reform of secondary education, while the latter, at war with the president for eight years, insists on his departure from the Élysée due to the failure of his economic policies.
Macron traveled this Monday to Marseille, one of the cities most affected by the rise of protests and disturbances on October 17. From there, he defended that the reinforcement of security measures ordered by his Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, worked last weekend and expressed his confidence that the device will be effective again in the gatherings planned for next Saturday.
"Order has been maintained, but next Saturday will still be a high-risk Saturday," the head of state pointed out to national media, confirming that the reinforced police deployment will remain. "We will continue to have specially designated mobilization routes," he added.
The president has also intensified his reproaches against the "far-left movements" that, in his opinion, have taken advantage of the student protests, amplified by social media, to express their "fascination with violence."
"Social media harms our democracies because they generate a kind of shock in the face of scenes of violence, as for some they are a tool to mobilize the worst," he declared. "The response to this," he reiterated, "can only be based on security."
Meetings in Matignon and appearance of the Ministers of Education
From Marseille, Macron reiterated his commitment to present "forceful announcements" aimed at the "legitimate demands" of the students, who are now awaiting the outcome of the meeting scheduled for 14:30 between Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and several student organizations: first the secondary ones and, subsequently, the university ones.
After this meeting in Matignon, a press conference is scheduled for 17:30 in which the Minister of National Education, Edouard Geffray, and the Minister of Higher Education, Philippe Baptiste, will participate to detail the decisions that the Government plans to adopt in response to the educational crisis and the climate of protest in the streets.