Paris braces itself for the arrival of thousands of ‘yellow vests’

Paris with increased security measures for a new phase in the protest of the ‘yellow vests’ against high fuel prices. Thousands of demonstrators are expected. But the police will also be present with almost 5,000 people to prevent it from riots.

The ‘yellow vests’ have carried out actions and roads in the country over the past week. A new phase in the protest – ‘acte 2’ is now announced on social networking sites. More than 35,000 people have announced on Facebook that they want to participate in a protest march in Paris.

In the centre of the capital, security zones were set up in various locations where no protests were allowed, says police chief Michel Delpuech. No demonstrations are allowed, among other things, in the Elysée area. As a result, the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysées are also forbidden. A lot of demonstrators had indicated on Facebook that they just wanted to argue there.

Hardly coordinated

The Interior Ministry had designated the Champ-de-Mars, the large park on the Eiffel Tower, as a ‘safe place’ for the protest action. The government wants the actions to take place only there, but it is not excluded that the hardly coordinated protest will also appear in other places.

The actions of the yellow vests have already killed two people in the past week. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 136 agents and more than 600 civilians were injured.