France's Interior Ministry to deploy 70,000 people to maintain order at November 7 protests

About 70,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed on November 7 across France to ensure security on city streets during the protest actions planned for that day.

This was announced by the republic's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

"The threat level is exactly the same as on previous Saturdays. We have again recorded calls for violence on social media, including against law enforcement forces and commercial facilities," he said. In this connection, according to him, law enforcement forces will be deployed in the same numbers as before. They will include, among other things, 110 mobile units, 25 Centaure armored vehicles of the national gendarmerie and water cannons.

During the press conference, the minister emphasized that on November 5, when most of the actions across the country were organized by trade unions, everything went largely peacefully, despite the antics of individual radical elements. However, on November 7, most of the actions and calls to action are not coming from the trade unions, so "the situation will be different."

Mass protests have been taking place in France since the end of September, when schoolchildren began blocking educational institutions, expressing dissatisfaction with their poor condition, as well as with overloaded schedules and the absence of teachers in a number of subjects. In October, protests by trade union organizations also began, demanding wage increases and the authorities' rejection of additional austerity measures. On November 9, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is to hold a meeting with their representatives, as well as with the heads of major companies, to discuss a way out of the current situation.