Macron Condemns Foreign Leaders for Exploiting French Unrest for Electoral Gain

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused unnamed foreign leaders of leveraging the riots that erupted across France on Saturday for their own electoral advantage.

Without identifying specific individuals, Macron stated that these figures were campaigning for upcoming elections “at France’s expense” through their commentary on the violence, which flared on the margins of cost-of-living protests.

Speaking during a visit to the Middle East, he characterized them as “leaders who are in campaign mode, whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic.”

The remarks appeared directed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces parliamentary elections next week, and U.S. President Donald Trump, with mid-term elections approaching next month.

Macron further alleged that these leaders had been swayed by AI-generated fake videos circulating about the riots.

Nearly 150 people have been jailed and more than 800 brought before the courts since the unrest gripped Paris and other cities, including Lyon, Marseille, and Nice.

Footage of running battles between masked rioters and police, along with property destruction and looting, spread widely across social media.

The government acknowledged that police had “lost control” during the violence, which followed weeks of student protests over high school conditions.

Macron subsequently vowed that authorities would be “uncompromising” toward “agitators from ultra-left fringe groups,” whom he blamed for much of the turmoil.

Source link