French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Wednesday that France was facing an “uncivilized process”, a government source said, after the violent deaths of a nurse and three police officers and re- back attack on elected officials.
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“We must not compromise on fundamentals. There is no legitimate violence, whether verbal or against people,” Macron told ministers at a cabinet meeting.
“We must work from top to bottom to counter this uncivilized process,” he added, in comments first reported by the daily Le Parisien and confirmed to AFP by a person present at the meeting. room.
Macron is “calling society to order,” a person close to the president told Le Parisien on condition of anonymity, adding that “politicians are not the only ones responsible” for reducing violence.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday participated in a minute of silence for a nurse who was killed on Monday in the eastern city of Reims, in a knife attack by a man suffering from problems in psychiatric.
Macron will travel on Thursday to Roubaix in northern France, to pay respects to three police officers who died in a car accident on Sunday with a person under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The violence this week follows attacks on elected officials, including a mayor in western France who resigned after an arson attack on his home.
Opponents of an accommodation center for asylum seekers in the town of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins are believed to have set the fire.
>> Read more: As French mayors are targeted by violent attacks, many feel abandoned
Some officials including MPs had their constituency offices vandalized for political motives amid what were seen as violent protests over Macron’s unpopular pension reform.
(AFP)