26.10.2026
French President Emmanuel Macron said his government will announce a series of “strong measures” to assuage protests which have rocked France in recent weeks.
Speaking in the southern city of Marseille, Macron warned that fresh demonstrations planned for this coming Saturday were “risky” and said that protest routes would remain outside city centers in order to protect public order.
Prior to Macron’s arrival in Marseille, the Elysee Palace said the president intended to “pay tribute to and thank the internal security forces that helped restore republican order” in France’s second-largest city where protesters briefly stormed the city hall on October 17.
The French president also highlighted the role of social media in the protests, saying the online networks were “damaging our democracies” by “bringing young and not-so-young people to places where criminal acts, attacks and looting were taking place.”
He described social media as “tools for mobilizing the worst impulses.”