France, toll rises to two thousand detained: Macron to speak at 8pm

The toll from the French protests against the cost of living worsens over the course of October 18. According to Le Monde, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that two thousand people have been detained, a figure higher than the one released in the first hours after the demonstrations. Le Parisien also reports, again citing Nuñez, more than five hundred injured among the law enforcement officers deployed during the days of unrest.

The sequence of events remains the one described in Saturday’s reports: nationwide demonstrations against the cost of living and school conditions, which turned into looting, fires and clashes in several cities, with masked groups targeting public buildings including some town halls. The new element in the latest hours concerns the institutional response: the Élysée announced that President Emmanuel Macron will convene the prime minister and the relevant ministers at 5:30pm, before addressing the country in a televised speech at 8pm.

The calling of a government meeting followed by a direct address from the head of state signals that the executive considers the situation to be of a gravity beyond that of a normal day of protests. The live coverage from Le Monde and Le Parisien, updated in the afternoon, agree on the timing of the institutional agenda and on the source of the figures, both attributed to the Interior Minister.

It remains to be seen what the content of Macron’s address will be: whether it will be limited to a call for public order or whether it will contain announcements on economic policies related to the cost of living, the issue at the origin of the mobilization. Saturday’s demonstrations had recalled, in scale and atmosphere, the “gilets jaunes” movement born in 2018, according to the account given by France 24 and Associated Press.

The number of those detained — two thousand according to the Ministry’s latest update — is not final: French authorities have indicated that identifications and checks are continuing even in the hours following the clashes. Macron’s 8pm address represents the first moment in which the government will publicly set out its reading of events and any resulting measures.