Tear gas and barricades as 7,500 police deploy in Paris.

In what should be seen not as two separate incidents, but as a sign of the growing lack of connect between Europe's governments and those who are governed, 7,500 police have been deployed across Paris in order to control spreading unrest, writes Gary Cartwright.

Some 16,000 limate protesters marched through Paris for a second day on Saturday in a rally that saw sporadic clashes between masked demonstrators and police who also broke up “yellow vest” groups trying to stage unauthorised gatherings in the capital. 

Demonstrators  displayed an effigy of President Emmanuel Macron wearing a crown marked “King of bla-bla”.

During the course of the day groups wearing black clothing associated with the “black bloc” anarchist movement formed barricades and set fire to bins. 

Police responded with tear gas and several districts including the Champs-Elysees were made out-of-bounds for protests, and over 30 metro stations closed. 

Police had made 163 arrests in Paris by late afternoon and earlier in the day pushed back around one hundred protesters who gathered on the Champs-Elysees shopping avenue, the Paris police prefecture said. 

There were further confrontations on the Champs-Elysees in the evening, with news channels showing clouds of tear gas and the fire brigade putting out a small fire. 

Similar climate protests took place in other EU capitals. 

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Gary Cartwright

Gary Cartwright

Gary Cartwright is publishing editor of EU Today. 





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