French Yellow Vest Protesters To Marr New Year Celebrations
In the “birthplace of democracy”, the very idea of law and order is crumbling before our very eyes.
Well, almost in front of our very eyes. The mainstream media has been slim in their coverage of the so-called “Yellow Vest” protesters. This could be due to their opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron – a liberal darling and frequent figurative sparring partner of US President Donald Trump.
With these protests growing far and wide throughout the nation of France, and into several neighboring countries, the New Year holiday has presented itself as a poignant opportunity for the disaffected French people.
Nearly 150,000 police are set to be on duty around France on New Year’s Eve when “yellow vest” protesters have called for another round of anti-government demonstrations.
The French capital will be on high alert after repeated clashes over the last month between security forces and the protesters.
President Emmanuel Macron is set to make a televised address to the country at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) — at the same time as protesters have been called to gather on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.
The “yellow vest” movement has waned dramatically in the last fortnight, but the prospect of demonstrators mixing with revellers and tourists in Paris will present a new headache for the stretched Paris police force.
The authorities seemingly despise the protesters.
“What can we expect? Disorder,” Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters as he visited a fire station in Paris. “What I see with the ‘yellow vests’ is a desire to be harmful, not to demonstrate.”
The protests began as an action again a proposed fuel tax, and have since expanded to a more general theme of anti-establishment fervor.
