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© Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.In Macron's France, streets and fields seethe with protest
By JOHN LEICESTER PARIS©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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dagon
If the people of the major industrialized nations like the US,UK and Japan had taken over the streets en masse like the people of France when confronted with neo-liberal late stage capitalist "reforms"; all of our societies and the conditions of working people would have been much better for it.
Shivaji
It would have been a perfect opportunity for King Charles to tell Macron at the Palace of Versallies to let the French eat brioche.
OssanAmerica
And garbage too.
Sanjinosebleed
It is NOT “macron’s” France!!!
Antiquesaving
So France is in trouble, pension age up, money for Ukraine, €450 million fine by the EU for not creating enough "green energy" despite reaching greenhouse gas reduction goals ( they use nuclear but didn't build solar to worship at the sun god of the environmentalists)
The Netherlands farmers just won the elections after more EU imposed regulations imposed by the ruling Dutch government.
Czechia also demonstrating over fuel and food,
Where or what country is next?
Spitfire
You have got to admire the French.
They really don't take any kind of BS.
Maybe we should all learn from them.
u_s__reamer
Macron has dared to push the envelope too far for his own future and good: now it's him against the nation and we'll see heads roll even without the guillotine.
elephant200
There will be a revolution in France and the corrupted Macron clique will be toppled. What the people of France desperately need is change of social system and their hope is a : People's Republic !
RichardPearce
Shouldn't the headline be "Millions of antiregime protester take to the streets in France demanding democracy" And the opening sentence be 'Despite a brutal crackdown by regime forces...
GBR48
Macron was already so unpopular, he should not have run for office. His arrogance just shines through. He only won because he was up against people even more right wing than he is.
He should have allowed someone who was actually popular to run instead.
The protests are moving beyond the pension issues. They want Macron out, and the French are so good at this sort of thing, that they may manage it.
Not sure why there were so many protests against a reservoir, as France (indeed, all of us) need more of them. Perhaps anything the state now do will be a call to arms.
In the UK, the Tories are lagging miles behind Labour, simply because they are widely hated and Labour are the opposition. That is despite handing out quite a lot of cash to cushion the financial blow from their Brexit fiasco. Amusingly, they are still blaming everything on Covid and Putin. They never mention Brexit, but their credibility is so low, it can't sink any further anyway. They stand no chance of winning the next election and may vanish as a mainstream party.
Even the Germans are on strike, which is quite rare. Inflation and high interest rates destabilise countries. Governments chose that path, deglobalising. They might find it more damaging than they could have imagined.
quercetum
Europe has escalating social problems, tied to cost of living pressures and wants a peace deal to alleviate the crisis. China is offering the best shot at brokering a deal. Spain and France are sending their prime ministers to meet with Xi in Beijing in April.
They better get their act together or the continent will once again descend into chaos after less than 80 years of peace.