France: Security Alert and 70,000 Police Officers Deployed as Students and "Yellow Vests" Stage New Protests

France, and particularly the capital Paris, is experiencing another day of heightened anticipation and caution amid calls by youth and student organizations, alongside the "Yellow Vests" movement, to maintain protest actions on the ground, amid concerns over renewed violence and its impact on transportation and daily life for residents and citizens.

Unprecedented Security Alert and Warnings of Escalation

Laurent Nuñez announced the continuation of tight security measures, deploying approximately 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country. The security official stressed that the threat level remains identical to what was observed during previous weeks of mobilization, justifying this deployment by the presence of calls circulating on social media inciting "violence," "blockades," and "disobedience," attributed to radical left-wing currents and far-left groups.

Estimates suggest that around 120 protest actions are planned across France, a figure more than ten times lower compared to the actions recorded on October 17, which reached approximately 1,700 at the time.

Student Clashes and Dozens of Arrests

This heightened alert follows a day marked by intense tension; according to police sources, the student movement recorded 183 actions involving 10,500 participants across several cities outside Paris. Nuñez also announced the blockade of around 40 high schools—double the number recorded on Thursday—in addition to 154 arrests carried out.

Authorities strongly condemned the violence that erupted around educational institutions, pointing out that police and gendarmerie personnel were repeatedly targeted while intervening to address blockades and surrounding tensions.

Protest Routes and Pressure Ahead of "Matignon" Meeting

In the capital, Paris, youth and student unions (Union étudiante, Fage, Unef, and USL), backed by regional union branches including CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires, and CFDT, called for a march starting from Place de la République toward Place de la Nation. This follows the same route used during the previous Thursday's marches, which gathered between 575,000 demonstrators (according to authorities' estimates) and 1.6 million (according to the CGT union) demanding improvements in purchasing power.

Conversely, the "Yellow Vests" coordination issued calls for an unauthorized gathering at Place de la Concorde. These ground actions aim to exert broad pressure ahead of the "social conference" scheduled for Monday at the Prime Minister's office (Matignon), bringing together trade unions and employers' organizations, followed by meetings dedicated to representatives of student and youth organizations.