France’s Macron declines minister’s resignation after violent protests

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledges that police ‘lost control’ during weekend protests.

Forensic experts and police officers examine the burned Tourism Office in Lyon on October 18, 2026. a day after nationwide protests for educational reforms and against the high cost of living turned violent [Jeff Pachoud/AFP]

French ⁠President ⁠Emmanuel Macron has declined Interior Minister Laurent Nunez’s offer to resign ⁠after nationwide demonstrations by students protesting educational conditions and groups angry over the high cost of living turned into widespread riots and looting, the Elysee presidential office says.

Macron said Nunez should stay in his position to ensure the chain of command is maintained within the police and security forces and asked the interior minister ⁠to establish new methods to deal with looters, the Elysee said in a statement on ⁠Monday.

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list 2 of 4 Paris left reeling as student-led protests turn chaotic

list 3 of 4 Why have France’s school protests become a wider political crisis?

list 4 of 4 ‘Anger and shame’: Macron denounces France’s nationwide rioting, looting

The president also asked Nunez to “take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence”, the statement added.

The Ministry of the Interior said more than 2,300 people were arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured in protests on Saturday. Injuries were also reported among protesters, with one demonstrator’s hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade.

The nationwide demonstrations brought together students demanding better conditions in the French education system and residents protesting against the high cost of living and faltering public services.

More than half a million people took part in the protests on Saturday. Looting, arson and damage to property occurred in many cities, with masked rioters attacking town halls, police stations and other government buildings.

Nunez acknowledged on Monday that police “lost control” during the protests.

“On Saturday in some major cities, you couldn’t look shopkeepers in the eye after hundreds of shops had been looted and tell them we hadn’t lost control,” Nunez said.

Nunez acknowledged a “lack of anticipation” in the deployment of security forces on Saturday, saying their numbers were insufficient to deal with the large crowds of rioters and looters on the fringes of the demonstrations.

He estimated that 60,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed across the country that day.

“Given the damage that has been caused, it was only right that I should hand in my resignation,” Nunez said.

Looting continued on Sunday, and Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Monday that about 30 shops had been targeted in the capital the previous day, describing the scenes as “unbearable”.

Nunez said about 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight.

Nationwide, more than 2,330 people were taken into police custody over the weekend, 70 percent of whom were adults, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

The violent weekend demonstrations followed weeks of protests by high school students against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and underinvestment in education, the biggest youth-led protest movement in the country in recent memory.

内政部长洛朗·努内斯承认，警方在周末的抗议活动中“失去了控制”。

2026年10月18日，法医专家和警察在里昂检查被烧毁的旅游局。此前一天，全国范围内的抗议活动演变为暴力事件，抗议者要求进行教育改革并反对高昂的生活成本。[Jeff Pachoud/AFP]

法国总统府爱丽舍宫表示，在学生抗议教育条件和团体对高昂生活成本感到愤怒的全国性示威活动演变成大规模骚乱和抢劫后，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙拒绝了内政部长洛朗·努内兹的辞职提议。

马克龙表示，努涅斯应该留任，以确保警察和安全部队内部的指挥链得以维持，并要求内政部长制定新的方法来应对抢劫者。爱丽舍宫周一发表声明称。

（共4条）生活成本抗议活动波及比利时、意大利、葡萄牙和法国（第1条）

巴黎学生领导的抗议活动演变成混乱，令这座城市陷入混乱（共4条，此为第2条）

问题 3（共 4 题）：为什么法国的校园抗议活动演变成一场更广泛的政治危机？

列表 4/4 “愤怒与耻辱”：马克龙谴责法国全国范围内的骚乱和抢劫

声明还补充说，总统还要求努涅斯“采取一切必要措施，确保对导致暴力事件的计划和情报失误进行透明调查”。

内政部称，周六的抗议活动中，超过2300人被捕，近1000名警察和宪兵受伤。抗议者中也有人受伤，一名示威者的手被警方使用的防暴手榴弹炸断。

全国范围内的示威游行将要求改善法国教育体系条件的学生与抗议生活成本高昂和公共服务不力的居民聚集在一起。

周六，超过五十万人参加了抗议活动。许多城市发生了抢劫、纵火和财产破坏事件，蒙面暴徒袭击了市政厅、警察局和其他政府大楼。

努涅斯周一承认，警方在抗议活动中“失去了控制”。

努涅斯说：“周六在一些大城市，数百家商店遭到洗劫后，你都不敢直视店主的眼睛告诉他们，我们还没有失去控制。”

努涅斯承认周六安全部队的部署“缺乏预料”，称其人数不足以应对示威活动边缘的大量暴徒和抢劫者。

他估计当天全国共部署了 6 万名执法人员。

“鉴于造成的损害，我递交辞呈是理所应当的，”努涅斯说。

周日抢劫仍在继续，巴黎市长埃马纽埃尔·格雷戈尔周一表示，前一天首都约有 30 家商店遭到抢劫，他形容现场“令人难以忍受”。

努涅斯说，周日及当晚，巴黎约有350人被捕。

司法部长杰拉尔德·达尔马宁表示，周末期间，全国共有超过 2330 人被警方拘留，其中 70% 为成年人。

周末的暴力示威活动是在高中生持续数周的抗议活动之后发生的，这些抗议活动旨在反对教室过度拥挤、教师短缺和教育投入不足，这是近年来该国规模最大的青年领导的抗议运动。