If from Marine Le Pen to François-Xavier Bellamy the condemnation of the night’s abuses is clear and without appeal, the left observes an embarrassed silence in fear of any stigmatization, and LFI places the blame on the government. The French are dismayed.
Looted stores, ransacked street furniture, injured police officers… After a night where the sound of mortar fire continued to echo and violence was unleashed in the streets despite an exceptional security system, not only in Paris but in many provincial towns, the French people discover with dismay the damage which followed PSG’s victory in the Champions League. Images that went around the world. Abroad, Elon Musk issued a laconic but severe tweet: “Problems in Paris”, accompanied by a video of urban guerrilla warfare and burning of bicycles. In France, political reactions are divided: while the right immediately and without appeal condemned these degradations and scenes of chaos, the rest of the political class remained silent on Sunday.
«It is only in France where the victory of a football club provokes riots. It is only in France where everyone feels obliged to lock themselves at home on a victory evening to avoid being confronted with violence“, lamented Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN) deputies in the Assembly. HAS”The French can no longer stand these scenes of chaos which multiply at the slightest pretext, despite an extraordinary security system.“, she added, reaffirming her support for the police, gendarmes, firefighters, and all those who were mobilized on Saturday evening to ensure the safety of the French. Unsurprisingly, Jordan Bardella, president of the party, was on the same wavelength: “Gangs attack public property, businesses and law enforcement. The mode of operation is always the same: stone, destroy, pillage“, he condemned, also providing his support to the police and denouncing “an atmospheric violence that has become unbearableHAS”. Guest Thursday evening of the show The Big Interview of LCI, the president of the RN who is leading the race (34% of voting intentions) in the polls for the presidential election, had distinguished two types of politicians: “ those who are deeply anguished thinking about what is becoming of France, and those who doze off, frolicking in the corridors of power, and consider that everything is fine», if ranking himself in the first category.
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More than a simple overflow, François-Xavier Bellamy sees it as a real political project. HAS”This is not a party. It’s not even “overflow.” It’s a project: a minority has decided to hijack any legitimate opportunity for collective joy to demonstrate its capacity to impose itself and destroy», analyze the eurodéputé Les Républicains (LR). TO”As long as the authority of the State is not reestablished, the French will be deprived of these great popular jubilations which have counted so much in the life of the country…“regrets the elected official, at the maneuver in the European Parliament to toughen the Union’s migration policy, with the adoption of the return regulation. He also provides his support to the police and gendarmes, “once again on the front line in the face of this blind and stupid violenceHAS”. Her colleague in the European Parliament, the elected Reconquête Sarah Knafo, chose the tone of irony to denounce these abuses: “Paris and France fought hard for PSG’s victory. Still the fault of Gérald Darmanin’s English families? Sports? Poverty? From CNews? While others look for excuses, we will apply the solutions“, she posted on X (formerly Twitter). In May 2022, during incidents at the Stade de France, already for the Champions League final, Gérald Darmanin, then Minister of the Interior, blamed the English supporters, before recognizing an error.
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Drawing direct consequences from the night, while the Champs-Elysées were the scene of excesses, Catherine Lécuyer, LR mayor of the 8th arrondissement of Paris, calls for a ban on gatherings on the famous avenue. HAS”Since it is impossible to celebrate a match without falling into a riot, the only common sense response is a new doctrine: zero gatherings», défend-elle. «We no longer manage overflows, we endure them. The preventive strategy has reached its limits. The concept of +zero damage+ no longer holds against the violence of organized gangs who no longer even take the trouble to disguise themselves as supporters“, continues the town hall of the 8th. Questioned during a press point, the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez judged that it was “a false good idea» which will not be «pas appliquée».
The President of the Republic, who will receive the PSG players late Sunday afternoon at the Élysée, simply sent a tweet of congratulations to the footballers, without a word on the events of the night. HAS”A new star shines in Paris! Congratulations to PSG who are making all of Europe dream. France is proud» tweeted Emmanuel Macron. And this, even though its Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez announced 780 arrests throughout the country, a figure up 32% compared to last year for the same event. The Minister of the Interior added that “57 police and gendarmerie officers were injured” during the night, bringing the total injured to 219 people in France, including 8 seriously.
Questioned on BFM TV, Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs reacted, estimating that “Marine Le Pen systematically denigrates our country“, preferring to see in the victory of PSG “a great French victory» and recall that the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024 were «beautifully passed».
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On the other hand, on the left there are very few reactions, and even fewer condemnations. In the evening, the new socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, posted photos of himself at the Parc des Princes, with 500 young people from the clubs invited by PSG. HAS”Together, let’s experience the history of football and Paris that is being written“, enthused Anne Hidalgo’s successor. Which earned him reproaches on social networks, when the situation degenerated in the evening, for not having been present in the streets alongside the prefect of Paris. And this even if order and security in the capital are the responsibility of the police headquarters.
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Questioned during the Grand Jury RTL – Le Figaro – Public Sénat – M6, the boss of Place publique, Raphaël Glucksmann, aspiring presidential candidate who has just released a book in which he offers a “patriotic contract” to the French, denounced “ the minority of thugs who come to pollute the partyHAS”. For his part, Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise (LFI) placed the blame on the government and the organization of the evening. HAS”We need to organize these evenings differently by setting up places to gather like fan zones“, he declared on the set of France 3. “But we must not cast opprobrium on all the supporters who were tens of thousands in the street and almost all of whom simply celebrated.”. Let them flog «the government’s absurd strategy», the deputy LFI Clemence Guetté appeals to «review from top to bottom» the doctrine of maintaining French order, particularly concerning major events. Because according to the Insoumise “ the police charged people who were not committing any excess. They fired grenades at families, at young people, simply because they were gatheredHAS”. This position illustrates “le concept of “New France” defended by LFIÂby rétorqué Jordan Bardella, unconditional support for those who destroy the property of others, for those who flout our laws and soil our popular festivals; the contempt shown for our police forces, accused, in a total inversion of values and reality, of being the authors of insecurity».
Faced with the multiplication of this urban and gratuitous violence, it is indeed two radically opposed conceptions which clash. «Csome will see it as a necessary valve for the expression of a youthful energy that it has always been difficult to channel, others a progressive extension of the domain of riots and gang law in the face of a State, which struggles, even reluctant, to exercise its monopoly on legitimate physical violence“, analyzes political scientist Jérôme Fourquet in Le Figaro.
