The protests of the French "yellow vests" movement against the policies of President Emmanuel Macron have turned into violence. There were chaotic scenes in the streets of Paris when rioters set up barricades, lighting cars and throwing windows. After violent riots, the police arrested more than 200 people in the capital. More than 100 people were injured, including eleven policemen.

Some of the demonstrators threw paving stones on gendarmerie trucks, an AFP reporter reported. Masked and helmeted demonstrators joined in the Arc de Triomphe, a monument to France's war dead, including the national anthem. Others provided skirmishes with the police and set fire to vehicles. The news agency AP reports of the worst urban violence in France for a decade.

According to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, some 5,500 people participated in the protests. He spoke of a "rarely reached degree of violence". The demonstrators had "questioned the symbols of France", sprayed the "Arc de Triomphe with graffiti" and "organized a violent demonstration around the grave of the unknown soldier," said Philippe. This is "shocking".

His office announced in the evening that Philippe canceled his trip to the climate summit in Poland. The PM will stay in France and not attend scheduled summit meetings in Katowice on Sunday and Monday. In his place, Environment Minister François de Rugy will lead the French delegation.

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Escalation: Paris in a state of emergency

On the closed for traffic Champs-Elysées were numerous trucks with riot police, passers-by were checked. Some shop windows were protected by wooden boards. Among the demonstrators were also many hoodlums who built barricades and delivered street battles with the police. More than twelve metro stations have been blocked. The traditional French department store chain Galeries Lafayette and other department store operators closed their doors in the face of increasing violence.

Macron condemns violence

However, there were also peaceful rallies. Several hundred "yellow vests" ran peacefully at the Arc de Triomphe behind a banner with the inscription "Macron, stop selling us stupid!".

French President condemned the riots sharply. "I will always accept protest, I will always listen to the opposition, but I will never accept violence," he said during a speech at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Those who are so violent do not want change, just chaos. Nothing to justify attacks on the police, plundering or vandalism.

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Among other things, the "yellow vests" demand tax cuts and an increase in minimum wages and pensions. It was the third national day of action on a Saturday in a row, with the number of participants steadily declining. On November 17, according to the Interior Ministry, 282,000 people took part in the nationwide protests, on November 24, there were therefore 106,000, of which 8,000 in the capital. At that time, there had been 103 arrests.