French violence raises alert as protests flare across Europe

Published Mon, Oct 19, 2026 · 04:08 PM

THE violence that rocked France this weekend as cost-of-living protests degenerated into looting and burning nationwide is raising alert levels across Europe, where elections will be held in at least half a dozen countries next year.

While France has a long history of street demonstrations, the intensity of attacks on public buildings, shops and restaurants raised fears of repeat action during a campaign featuring both the far left and far right.

President Emmanuel Macron promised a “hard line,” yet even as he made a televised address on Sunday night, tensions were still flaring between rioters and police in Paris.

“This suggests that such extreme violence could become a regular occurrence,” said Bernard Sananes, head of polling company Elabe. He said that there is “no precedent” in recent history of such dramatic unrest in the runup to a presidential vote. Unions have already called for a strike on Nov 5.

Spending to keep the peace is no longer an option amid deepening concerns over public finances that have sent France’s borrowing costs soaring.

A deeply divided National Assembly last week began discussing a budget proposal for 2027 that features about 43 billion euros (US$48 billion) in deficit-cutting measures.

The cost-of-living concerns that were at the root of protests that gathered more than half a million people in France were also on display in other corners of Europe.

That includes Italy where parliamentary elections are due to take place in 2027. In Milan, some of the Saturday demonstrations ended in rioting and looting. The violence there worsened on Sunday afternoon, with clashes between police and groups of youth, some of which looted shops. Protests took place also in Belgium and Portugal.

Demonstrators in Spain were expected to go on strike next month over housing and wages, just two weeks before a snap general election.

Pollster Sananes sees a common thread in these European countries: the failure of public policies to address a sense of inequality. “The problems raised by protesters are all the more acute given the lack of growth,” he said.

But the expression of that growing social distress in France, which has been displayed by nationwide student protests the past three weeks over education, has been eclipsed by the violence in the streets. 

Damage from the unrest will cost “hundreds of millions of euros” to repair, according to Alexandre Bompard, chief executive officer of grocer Carrefour SA and also the head of the French trade and distribution federation.

He said in a Sunday interview on LCI that 1,500 storekeepers were affected, with about 20 of his company’s supermarkets looted.

Macron, who called the violence a national “shame,” said he understood worries such as a spike in the price of fuel caused by the US’s war with Iran. But, he added, “the country needs order” and he said certain rallies might be banned by regional officials, if necessary.

“We will take a hard line against rioters and anyone else who engages in violence,” Macron said. “Seeing the streets of our towns and cities ransacked like this is unbearable,” he added. “Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it.”

Macron called on Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to give clarity on planning and intelligence failings that led to the riots, the Elysee said in a statement early Monday.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a speech posted on X on Sunday that the country was “held hostage, between violence and powerlessness.” She blamed the party of her far-left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon for trivialising violence. “France cannot, must not, and will never get used to such scenes,” she said. 

Melenchon blamed police provocation for some of the disorder and disassociated himself from vandals and looters.

“What is at stake here is democracy itself,” Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister under Macron and a presidential candidate, said on Sunday evening on BFM television. “The ability of every individual to expect that their property and private possessions will be respected and protected by the state.”

Further clashes in the streets can be expected over the coming months.

A call to strike on Nov 5 has already been issued by five labour unions in France, demanding higher wages and more funding for public services. They have invited pensioners and high-school students — the first to hit the streets this fall — to join in. REUTERS