‘Is it a permanent return to calm?’: Emmanuel Macron on violent France protests
France Protests: France battled riots since an officer killed 17-year-old Nahel M. during a traffic stop on June 27.
French president Emmanuel Macron met with hundreds of mayors as he explored the "deeper reasons" for violent riots in the country after a police officer killed a teenager at a traffic stop. At the meeting in the Elysee palace with more than 300 mayors, whose municipalities suffered damage over the week, the French president said, “Is it a permanent return to calm? I will be cautious, but the peak that we've seen in previous days has passed.”
This comes as his government battled riots since an officer killed 17-year-old Nahel M. during a traffic stop on June 27. On Monday violence in French cities halved in 24 hours, the interior ministry said, with 72 people arrested in the country.
Emmanuel Macron is hoping to "start the painstaking, long-term work needed to understand the deeper reasons that led to these events", an official at the president's office said. The president said that his government had failed to to find “unanimity” and would "reach very real solutions" over the summer.
Read more: Russia, Ukraine trade accusations over ‘plot’ to attack Zaporizhzhia nuclear station
“We must strike while the iron is hot,” he said.
Zartoshte Bakhtiari, mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne east of Paris, said, "I came to hear the president give us a vision, set a course. I didn't come for a group therapy session". Nearly 4,000 arrests have been made since Friday, including more than 1,200 minors, according to the justice ministry.
Emmanuel Macron suggested fining the parents of children involved. "With the first crime, we need to find a way of sanctioning the families financially and easily," he said. The French president also promised to fast-track a new law allowing for rapid assistance with rebuilding damaged buildings and vandalised transport infrastructure.
Meanwhile, France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that the government might allow damaged businesses to suspend tax and social security payments as they rebuild.
"The French economy is solid... and the daily life of all French citizens is not threatened by what happened. And we are coming back to a more quiet situation after four or five days of riots," he said.
