The main French police union, Alliance, called for mobilization to protest what it considers to be insufficient resources available to law enforcement officers. Unions complain of understaffing and equipment shortages while they face rising crime.
How many people participated in the protests in Paris?
Which right-wing politicians took part in the demonstration?
What slogans appeared on the participants' posters?
Why did the police union organize a protest?
In Paris, the demonstration, which started on the Place de la Bastille, gathered, according to the organizers, 15,000 people. up to 20 thousand people. Many older people came to it. Protest participants brought posters saying, among others: “Without the police, there is chaos”, “Impunity produces criminals” and “All cops are heroes”. Flags in national colors were handed out in the crowd and the French anthem “La Marseillaise” was sung.
Right-wing politicians at protests
In addition to ordinary citizens, politicians from the right and the extreme right came to the rally. Appeared: Marion Marechal, privately the niece of the leader of the extreme right, Marine Le Pen, and a politician of Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party, Thierry Mariani.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who previously served as prefect of the Paris police, did not attend the rally. However, in the days before the demonstration, he assured of his support for the gendarmes and policemen. The minister emphasized that the 2026 budget provides for an additional EUR 100 million for his ministry.
Trade unions reported that 45,000 people participated in the meetings across the country. people. The authorities did not provide their own estimates for the entire country. According to local police prefectures, 1,000 people demonstrated in Toulouse, 1,500 in Lyon and several hundred in Lille and Marseille.
