European Protesters Clash with Police in France and Germany

French police expressed relief on Sunday after massive cost-of-living protests across the country resulted in less violence than in previous weekends. The authorities expect new demonstrations to begin once schools reopen on Monday after autumn breaks. Across Europe, hundreds of thousands of people joined marches that were primarily inspired by young people, although isolated incidents of disorder occurred in several nations.

In Paris, rioters threw Molotov cocktails at police officers at the end of a Saturday march in the eastern part of the city. The police reported that three agents were injured and one car was set on fire. On the other side of the city, masked groups launched fireworks at officers near a viewing platform in front of the Eiffel Tower. Police charged the crowd repeatedly, causing frightened tourists to flee the area.

Overall, the violence was less severe than the events of October 17, when a town hall building was burned and more than 2,000 shops were looted. The authorities appeared unprepared to control that level of destruction. They also faced less trouble than during the protests on October 24. Police had arrested 779 people by Saturday night, compared to 2,628 arrests on October 17 and 1,314 arrests the previous weekend. Police in Paris and Marseille reported attacks on a few businesses, but the damage was not considered major.

A French national police official told The Associated Press on Sunday that authorities prepared for higher attendance from both peaceful protesters and rioters. Approximately 70,000 police officers were deployed across the country. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because police policy did not authorize public identification, said the police expect more tension as schools reopen. Student groups and unions have called for new national protests on Tuesday and Thursday.

Germany faced its own challenges as national protests on Saturday ended with rioters attacking police and looting stores in some cities. More than 100,000 people, mostly young, protested peacefully across the country. They demanded that the government invest more in education, housing, and environmental protection, and make daily life more affordable. In some cities, the protests turned violent during the night.

After a march in Frankfurt, rioters attacked police in the city center and looted shops. More than 100 officers were injured, and 54 people, aged between 13 and 29, were detained. It was unclear how many protesters were injured. Police said 17 stores suffered damage and five were looted. The situation calmed down by early Sunday morning after police cordoned off a section of the city center.

Boris Rhein, the governor of Hesse, said he was shocked by the violent excesses in Frankfurt, which would not go unpunished. He stated that anyone behaving like the attackers in the Frankfurt center places themselves outside of society. Violence also erupted in Cologne, where police used water cannons to disperse the crowd. In Berlin, protesters attacked police with bottles and pyrotechnics.

The organizers of the Saturday protests, a youth initiative called Generation Z Takes Over, posted a statement on Instagram distancing themselves from any form of violence. They also distanced themselves from violent acts by other groups or individuals not part of the official protests. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt accused violent left-wing groups and rioters from the immigrant community of hijacking the peaceful marches. He told the newspaper Bild on Sunday that rioters and looters would be identified and held accountable.

In Portugal, riot police forcibly removed demonstrators from a square in Lisbon overnight. Thousands of people marched through the city during the day, and a few hundred camped in Rossio, a prominent square in the city center. Police intervened early Sunday, removed tents, and pushed people out to clear the area. Some people were detained. Portuguese demonstrators have been protesting for weeks, inspired by the Spanish movement, to denounce rising costs of living, particularly housing.

Police in France and Germany continued to monitor situations as new calls for protest emerged. The French official noted that the deployment of 70,000 officers was a direct response to the expected scale of the demonstrations. In Germany, the focus shifted to identifying those responsible for the damage in Frankfurt, Cologne, and Berlin. The youth organizers maintained that their movement remained distinct from the violent factions that emerged during the marches.