French authorities announced a partial curfew in four cities in the north of the country, including Lille, on the nights of Monday and Tuesday, in an attempt to contain the violence that occurred in several cities during the weekend protests.
The office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated that the curfew will be implemented from 8 PM to 6 AM local time, aimed at reducing disturbances and protecting property, according to France Press.
Lecornu announced that he had requested regional governors to impose a curfew on Monday evening, clarifying that the measure would be partial and limited in scope, focusing on protecting stores, following the chaotic scenes witnessed in French cities.
Lecornu also did not rule out declaring a state of emergency if necessary, but he considered that imposing a curfew seems to be the most suitable option at this stage.
France witnessed an escalation of protests and violence over the weekend, which spread to several cities, while Paris saw protest movements that included the closure of the entrance to the Louvre Museum, with the participation of protesters, including students from the school, expressing their support for the high school student movement and condemning what they described as police repression.
These developments occurred in the context of ongoing protests for four weeks, which began with high school students demanding improvements in their schools, before expanding to include objections to the sharp rise in the cost of living.
Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admitted on Monday that the police "lost control" in some cities during the violence that erupted on the sidelines of the weekend protests, explaining that about 60,000 police and gendarmerie officers were deployed across the country on Saturday as part of the security response to the disturbances.