2023-06-30 16:01:00
French President Emmanuel Macron left the EU summit in Brussels early to attend a crisis meeting because of the ongoing unrest in his country after a police officer shot a 17-year-old. The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has meanwhile updated its safety instructions for France. “The security situation in the Ile de France and other major French cities is unstable,” the website said.
Travel to the suburbs around Paris should be avoided, the ministry said. The ministry also called for registration when traveling to France.
Is a state of emergency declared?
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne did not rule out that a state of emergency could be declared to calm the situation in France. Macron had previously spoken out against it. Demands had previously come from several politicians to do so in light of the unrest that has been going on for three nights. Macron avoided any statement to journalists in Brussels. Borne spoke on Friday of “intolerable and inexcusable” riots. She had met with several ministers “to take stock of the acts of violence and riots of the night,” she wrote on Twitter on Friday. From 11:00 a.m., the cabinet was called together to discuss how to proceed. On Friday afternoon, President Emmanuel Macron also met with a crisis team to discuss the situation.
public transport interrupted
Due to the ongoing riots in France, part of the local transport in the Paris metropolitan area will be interrupted in the evenings until further notice. In consultation with the police, all trams and buses must stop by 9 p.m. at the latest, the responsible authority announced on Twitter on Friday. Transport Minister Clement Beaune had previously told radio station RMC that public transport in the greater Paris area was seriously affected on Friday. Twelve buses were destroyed in a fire at a depot in Aubervilliers, north of Paris. A video shared on social media also showed a tram burning in the city of Lyon in eastern France. There were also riots in Marseille, Pau, Toulouse and Lille.
This interactive graphic is disabled
Please enable the Functional Cookies category in your Cookie Settings to view this element. My cookie settings
1,900 cars on fire
Around 1,900 cars have burned out in the riots in France since Thursday. In addition, around 500 public buildings such as police stations and town halls were set on fire, broadcaster BFMTV reported on Friday. 9,900 firefighters were deployed. In the Paris area alone, 934 cars went up in flames, the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported. There were fires in 212 buildings. According to the prefecture, 74 cars burned out in Strasbourg.
allegations against authorities
The United Nations (UNO) has called on France to deal with racism problems in French law enforcement agencies after a police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old. “This is the moment for the country to seriously address the profound problems of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement,” spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Commissioner Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva on Friday.
“We are concerned about the killing of a 17-year-old of North African descent by police in France.” Authorities should ensure that the “principles of legality, necessity and proportionality” are respected when police use force, Shamdasani said. All allegations of disproportionate use of force must be “quickly investigated”.
Security forces mobilized
After two nights in a row there had been massive protests against police violence in several cities, around 40,000 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized nationwide on Friday night to contain the riots. 5,000 of them in Paris. The capital also convened a crisis team. According to the Interior Ministry, 249 police officers and gendarmes were injured on Friday night. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, 667 people were arrested.
There were also protests in the Belgian capital Brussels on Thursday. According to their own statements, the police arrested dozens of people there on Thursday evening, including numerous young people, after several fires had been set and street barricades erected. Those arrested were later released. According to the Brussels police, two cars and several garbage cans were set on fire. The fires were quickly extinguished.
Shot dead at traffic stop
On Tuesday, the young Nahel M. was shot in the driver’s seat of a car during a traffic check in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Video showed the police officer aiming his gun at the driver and firing at point-blank range as the car suddenly accelerated. During the control, the sentence was heard beforehand: “You’ll get a bullet in the head.”
The riots bring back memories of the 2005 riots, when then President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency. The trigger was the death of two young men who were electrocuted while fleeing the police.
Video: ORF correspondent Cornelia Primosch reports on the current situation in France. She gives a preview of the crisis meeting in Paris in view of the riots in France.
This video is disabled
Please enable the Performance Cookies and Functional Cookies categories in your Cookie Settings to view this item. My cookie settings
ePaper
Read e-paper now!
Read the daily updated ePaper edition of the OÖNachrichten – now flip through it digitally!
to the epaper
info By clicking on the icon you add the keyword to your topics.
info Click on the icon to open your “my topics” page. You have saved from 15 tags and need to remove tags.
info Click on the icon to remove the keyword from your topics.
Add the theme to your themes.
1688144046
#Riots #Foreign #Ministry #warns #travel #Paris #suburbs