Minister denies police brutality as student protests continue across France – Europe live | Europe

More from the Greek capital where visiting US Secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has been dominating the news.

In a day packed with talk of energy and defense, gas ‘corridors’ and trade, counterterrorism and US military bases – all earning Greece the encomium of being the region’s “pillar of stability” according to Rubio – it is the foreign policy chief, himself, who has made the news.

Rubio’s decision to use the trip to deliver a major address “on democracy and its future” from the ancient Pnyx has imbued the visit with an air of excitement.

Until last night it was far from sure that the US secretary of state would have access to the setting because of security reasons.

Only hours before more than 1,500 protestors, appalled by the war in Iran, had marched through the streets of central Athens waving banners declaring him persona non grata.

Excerpts of Rubio’s address released by the State department suggest he will focus on the shared values that have united Americans and Europeans in what has also been described as a rallying cry for “a great renewal of the Western spirit.”

But there are also fears the US secretary of state may use the setting to make a speech in the spirit of the blistering attack on Europe issued by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security conference last year. The speech is scheduled to take place in the next half hour.

A new Elabe poll for BFMTV shows that 55% of French people support the high school protests.

While 35% oppose the movement, 10% say they have no clear view.

Support for the students’ demands is even higher, with 72% considering them legitimate – a view shared by majorities across the political spectrum, from left to right.

However, the public is far more divided over what should happen next: 55% believe students have made their point and should end the protests, while 27% think they should carry on.

French far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen offered her strong support for the police, saying “impunity must end,” and “those who vandalise our schools, and their parents when they are minors, must pay for the damage they cause.”

“The French people should no longer have to finance the vandals,” she told reporters on a visit to Cournon-d’Auvergne.

She also said the police should have the support of the nation, and “not face constant accusations from those in power,” as she chose to use the protests to criticise the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

“While the far left spreads false accusations to stoke violence, Emmanuel Macron once again chooses to undermine those who protect the French people,” she said.

Le Pen leads the presidential polls ahead of next year’s election, with 33-34% of vote share in the first round, well ahead of Édouard Philippe and Jean-Luc Mélenchon at around 16-18%.

European community affairs correspondent
in Madrid

In other news, at a makeshift lunch counter tucked within a maze of tents at a housing protest camp in Madrid, Sélpide San Luis pointed to the dizzying pace of change.

“We built a city in a week,” said the 26-year-old, whose videos documenting day-to-day life at the encampment have attracted tens of thousands of views on social media, as she pointed to the more than 1,200 tents set up in the central Puerta del Sol square.

“We have urban planning, the streets have names and we’ve put surveillance systems in place. And thanks to what we’re doing here, media have not stopped talking about the issue of housing – something that we’ve been trying to get on the agenda for so long.”

This week marked another significant moment for the impromptu movement.

After days of protests and encampments that have sprouted up across the country after the eviction from of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her home, the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a snap general election in response to rightwing parties torpedoing emergency legislation to tackle the housing crisis.

Housing campaigners vowed to keep up the pressure. “The power of the people has ushered in a new era,” said Alicia del Río, of the Madrid Tenants’ Union, as she floated plans for a general strike in November.

“An election campaign is now beginning that will be deeply shaped by the housing issue. So we ask the members of parliament, are you going to introduce the measures that people are demanding – ones demanded by the majority of voters across all parties – or are you going to continue to be the lackeys of the rentier economy?”

The election, which did not have to held until August 2027, is a high-stakes gamble for Sánchez. Polls suggest the most likely outcome will be a rightwing coalition between the People’s party and the far-right, anti-immigration Vox party.

The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has also provided the latest figures on arrests and injuries across the country.

A total of 6,629 people have been arrested since the protests began.

Meanwhile, 761 police officers and gendarmes have been injured, alongside 215 students and 89 members of teaching staff.

French interior minister Laurent Nuñez rejected allegations of police brutality in their response to on-going French student protests, saying officers only intervene when there is damage or violence.

Addressing French lawmakers, he said the protest movement was “unprecedented” because of “very serious violence,” franceinfo reported.

There are no signs of the French protests going away any time soon.

The left-wing CGT trade union, France’s second-largest, said it would rally behind the student union’s call for further street protests on Thursday.

“The CGT will continue to shoulder its responsibilities in supporting the young people who have mobilised and protecting them from violence and police repression,” a CGT statement said.

In France, nearly 460 schools are affected by continuing protests today, just over a half of those that joined the “day of mobilisation” yesterday, the French education ministry said.

Once again, there are reports of localised clashes with police, including outside Sciences Po university in Paris, where police forces destroyed a barricade raised by the protesters.