Protests in France: students blocked the entrance to the Louvre Museum

This agency AFP reported the management of the museum and two trade unions, writes France24.

“Ми з гордістю оголошуємо, що блокуємо найбільший музей у світі”,

Devant la pyramide du Louvre, des étudiants d’écoles d’art et de culture manifestent et bloquent l’entrée du musée. «Les touristes qui attendent sont agressifs avec nous car ils ont payé leur billet», dit une des manifestantes qui distribuent des tracts en français et en anglais. https://t.co/s3nqIhAA2y
— Jean-Baptiste Semerdjian (@JBSemerdjian) October 19, 2026

Authorities in Marseille, France’s second largest city, banned any demonstrations and public gatherings between noon and 8pm.

Prime Minister Себастьян Лекорню will make a statement on television after holding crisis talks with government members.

According to estimates by the head of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of France, more than 2000 enterprises were directly affected by looting and riots that occurred this weekend, and the amount of damage reaches “сотень мільйонів євро”.

Венсан Жанбрюн, the French Minister for Cities, called the violence “формою повстання”, condemning the crime, “підживлювану торгівлею наркотиками”.

According to the Minister of Justice Жеральда Дарманена, the riots revealed shortcomings in the work of law enforcement agencies to counter threats from ultra-left protesters. Darmanen noted that law enforcement agencies respond very effectively to threats from terrorists and organized criminal groups, but act less successfully when it comes to them.

On Monday, the president of Франції Емманюель Макрон sharply criticized “прорахунки” in the security sphere, which, according to him, led to violent protests. At the same time, he rejected a request for the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Лорана Нуньєса against the background of this crisis.

On Sunday, the Interior Ministry announced 2400 arrests across France. Only in Paris, 855 people were arrested, and more than 500 are in police custody.

During the clashes 997 police and gendarmes were injured, seven of them - a serious degree. Human rights groups said that during the protests, several teenagers were injured by police weapons "характерні для воєнних дій".