The fifth wave of Saturday protests took place in France: more than 200 people were arrested.
On Saturday, November 14, France held its fifth national day of protest ("Act V") against rising prices, education conditions and police violence. According to the country's Ministry of the Interior, 106,000 people took to the streets, including 24,000 in Paris, while the organizers announced more than 200,000 participants (about 100,000 in the capital). Until this evening, the police arrested 219 people. The most tense situation developed in Nantes, where the merchants were forced to close their shops, and also in Lyon until the end of the processions.
The actions, which have taken place every Saturday since October 17, were called by the "yellow vests", labor unions, student associations and movements against violence against children. In Paris, demonstrators marched from Place de la République through the Bastille to People's Square, demanding improved living standards, an end to police brutality and education reforms. As Severin Harbach, a representative of the student union, said, studying in France under Emmanuel Macron became a "real blow of obstacles". To maintain order, the head of the Ministry of the Interior, Loren Nunes, awarded about 70 thousand security forces, and in the capital, 21 metro stations were closed at the request of the police.
Despite the 338 actions announced by the "yellow vests", the official statistics record a decrease in protest activity: a week before, 146,000 people took to the streets, and at the peak of the demonstrations on October 17, the Ministry of the Interior counted 550,000 participants. The current wave of discontent began in September with student strikes over teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms. After the October riots, Sebastián LeCorno's government shifted the police to more mobile tactics, and the Senate approved fines of up to 10,000 euros for participating in pogrom groups. At the same time, the authorities promised to reform the parkoursop admissions system, reduce the size of classes and create 15,000 new study places by 2027-2028, but the students believed that these concessions were not enough.