French Troops Reinforced for the First Time Ahead of Yellow Vests Protests

By Staff, Agencies

This weekend's wave of 'Yellow Vests' protests arrived in Paris on Saturday despite a ban on protesting along the Champs-Elysees, which was announced by French Prime Minister Edouard Phillippe after violence erupted last weekend.

Ahead of the 19th Saturday seeing Yellow Vests protests in France, troops have been mobilized to help the police focus on protecting public order in Paris. The military can go as far as opening fire if their life or the life of people they defend are threatened, Gen. Bruno Leray, Paris military governor, announced Friday.

Relatively, French police banned protests on the Champs-Elysees and in its vicinity, which had been slated to take place this Saturday, 23 March, according to their statement. Similar precautionary measures have been taken by police in the French cities of Nice, Marseille and Metz.

Earlier, French government's spokesman Benjamin Griveaux announced that Operation Sentinelle troops would be redeployed to protect public order at the Yellow Vest demonstrations expected on Saturday. These forces patrol streets and protect airports, train stations, places of worship and other sites; they were mobilized for anti-terrorism protection after the 2015 terrorist attacks.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the soldiers would not be engaged in keeping public order.

"Their [soldiers'] mission is to fight against terrorism and to protect vulnerable sites, this is for policemen and military police to get to the operational ground. In our country, the army is not in any way in charge of public order or law enforcement," Macron told a press conference after the European Council.

Last Saturday's protest left Paris’ Champs Elysees in tatters. The government fired Paris police chief Michel Delpuech and promised bans on demonstrations in certain areas, naming Champs Elysees and Capitol Square in Toulouse as examples.

The prefecture of Haute-Garonne has already reportedly banned protests in Capitol Square this Saturday.

The protest movement was launched in mid-November in response to a planned fuel price hike.

After several weeks of protests, the French government backed away from the tax proposal and offered several other concessions, as well as a platform for the French people to air their grievances. Nevertheless, the weekend protests have continued.