Macron says that those who have caused the damage must pay for it. He says nothing about how this is to be done. Rioters destroyed property and goods worth hundreds of millions of euros, and this took place in many towns and cities over a long period of time. What remains are destroyed shops and burnt-out cars.
Macron also spoke as if the protests were still about conditions in schools, long after they had descended into vandalism.
He complained that the police had not warned him. He himself has been completely absent.
The unrest has spread to several Italian cities, most notably Milan, where police and demonstrators clashed.
Meloni has called an extraordinary cabinet meeting.
The unrest in France is spreading across the whole of Europe.
Meloni put her finger on the problem in a social media post:
“Protesting is a right. Setting our cities on fire is not”, she wrote, referring to “hooligans who exploit demonstrations to create chaos, attack those responsible for maintaining security and hold entire cities hostage”.
Whilst the protests began with school pupils, they have now degenerated into a riot, and if they are not stopped, they risk spreading and turning into something far more serious.
