Mr. Macron convened the defense council and tightened control of protests

President Emmanuel Macron today chaired a meeting with key ministers and intelligence officials, announcing that only protests organized by trade unions would take place on October 24. This operation must also be carried out on certain routes, in order to “protect the city centers, especially shops and infrastructure”.

“The general recommendation is not to organize protests in the coming days. We will refuse requests from people and organizations that do not have legitimacy. This is not the right time to protest, because we need to restore peace,” he said after the meeting.

President Macron also demanded extremely tough punishments for illegal acts, as well as extremist groups that he accused of seeking to overthrow the French republic. “I will convene and chair the defense council meeting on October 23 to make further decisions,” the French leader said.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on the same day held a meeting with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin and officials from intelligence agencies and law enforcement forces.

The French Ministry of the Interior said it will mobilize a police force 20% larger than last week to ensure security on October 24, including special police, gendarmes, soldiers of the anti-terrorism unit and armored vehicles.

The Paris capital government called on people to “be alert to the risk of further acts of violence caused by vandals unrelated to the movement”. Authorities in Lyon, France’s third largest city, issued a ban on protests and called on people to stay home.

Protests broke out in a series of major cities across France from October 17, with more than half a million people participating, to protest rising prices and demand improvement in the quality of public services. The marches were initially peaceful, but many extremists incited violence and confronted the police.

Minister Darmanin said on October 21 that about 2,500 people were arrested, 174 people were imprisoned, and 917 people were prosecuted for acts of violence and vandalism. About 2,000-3,000 businesses were looted, and the unrest caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage, especially in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Limoges.