France chaos: Macron on Brink, police clash with Covid protests | world | News

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Covid vaccine protests have erupted across France as Emmanuel Macron faces a backlash over the French government’s handling of the pandemic. Police in Paris and Lyon clashed with angry protesters who gathered on Saturday to protest the country’s Covid health pass law that requires people to have a vaccination certificate to enter public places such as cafes, public transport or stores.

Demonstrators took to the streets in Lyon in large numbers, where police reportedly fired tear gas in an attempt to block the march’s advance.

Footage on social media shows hundreds of protesters making their way through blackened streets with tear gas.

In the background, objects can be seen being thrown at police lines.

Meanwhile, a separate clip apparently shows French police officers trying to confront a large crowd of protesters inside a Paris metro station.

Riot police can be seen confronting protesters at Châtelet metro station in the heart of Paris.

Shocked passengers can be seen heading up the escalators as French police turn to confront the protesters.

Protesters raised a banner at the station and began spreading anti-vaccine slogans.

These clashes are the eighth consecutive weekend of protests against the French Covid-19 health card.

Last weekend, a total of 160,000 people took part in the Covid vaccine protests across France according to the country’s interior ministry.

By Saturday evening, authorities had registered 222 separate protests, according to France 24.

This comes as a new report published by the European Council on Foreign Relations highlights the growing discontent with Macron’s restrictions on the Covid virus.

The report stated: “In France, the pandemic has led to amazing changes in political philosophy in the main ruling and opposition parties. This is ‘non-binary democracy’.”

“The crisis has prompted liberal supporters of Emmanuel Macron’s centrist political program to support the state’s highly intrusive measures, with 89 percent of those expressing their opinion believing the restrictions were either right or not strict enough.

Meanwhile, among current supporters of Marine Le Pen, whose party has often sought a more authoritarian state, nearly a third (33 per cent) of those who expressed the view believed that the restrictions were too strict, and therefore wanted their party to pose as a platform for freedom against the oppressive power of the epidemic state.”

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