DOMINANT ANGLE
Berlin is judging the day of October 24 in terms of law and order: 70,000 police officers, curfews and 1,314 arrests, with a toll deemed more measured than that of the previous week.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
According to the Interior Ministry, 1,314 arrests, 53 police officers injured, 75 arson attempts, and 24 lootings (Tagesschau, Handelsblatt).
- 02
70,000 police and gendarmes mobilized, 10,000 more than the previous week, with curfews and assembly bans (DW).
- 03
Ministry: 410,000 protesters, including 110,000 in Paris; CGT: nearly 800,000, including 250,000 in Paris (DW, Tagesschau).
ANALYSIS
Berlin, October 25, 2026. The German press initially treats the day of Saturday, October 24, as a test of public order, one week after the riots of October 17. According to the Ministry of the Interior, cited by Tagesschau and DW, 410,000 people demonstrated in France, including 110,000 in Paris; the CGT claims nearly 800,000 and, according to DW, 250,000 in the capital. DW notes that the real size of the processions is unknown.
The security measures take center stage. Handelsblatt recalls that Laurent Nuñez had mobilized 70,000 police officers and gendarmes, with water cannons and armored vehicles, 10,000 more than the previous week, according to DW. Bans on gatherings by zone and curfews were decreed; in Paris, only the union procession was authorized, moved at the last minute from the Bastille to the southeast of the city, a route validated by the administrative court. The unionist Murielle Guilbert considers it "scandalous" that Macron banned demonstrations where the unions wanted them.
The numerical toll comes from the Ministry, reported by Handelsblatt and Tagesschau: 1,314 arrests, 53 police officers injured, 75 attempted fires, 24 lootings. FAZ relays Nuñez's version: the authorized processions went "well", but the security forces faced "an extremely high level of violence" from "far-left militants". Far-right militants were also spotted for the first time in Cannes and Montpellier. The police prefecture mentions "more than 500 rioters" in Paris. A demonstrator cited by AFP responds: "The police started attacking everyone."
Two people were seriously injured, in Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand; in Toulouse, a 20-year-old man was hit in the hand and a rescue worker told AFP that he lost several fingers in an explosion. DW headlines "light and shadow": Nuñez judges the lootings to be much fewer than a week earlier.
In substance, Handelsblatt and DW link the processions to the cost of living and the state of schools. Tagesschau broadens the scope to Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Albania), with rents and corruption in the background, and notes less violence than the previous weekend. Handelsblatt quotes Céline, 35, in Le Monde: the right to demonstrate is just as important as the right to vote.
SOURCES (4)
- FAZMEDIUM
- HandelsblattMEDIUM
