France Protests Spread to Neighboring Countries... Europe on High Alert

Protests Expand to Belgium and Switzerland with Large French-Speaking Populations
European Countries Warn Their Citizens to Avoid Areas Affected by French Protests

Protest Condemning the Police Shooting Death of a 17-Year-Old Boy Held in Nanterre, France
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

Europe is on high alert as large-scale protests condemning the death of a 17-year-old Algerian-French boy shot by police in France have spread beyond the borders to neighboring countries such as Belgium and Switzerland.

According to the British daily The Telegraph on the 2nd (local time), the wave of protests that began in France on the 28th of last month is spreading to neighboring countries with large French-speaking populations. On the 1st, in downtown Lausanne, Switzerland, a crowd of about 100 protesters engaged in violent demonstrations, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the police.

Lausanne is a French-speaking city where about 80% of the citizens use French. Police arrested six males and females aged 15 to 17 at the protest site and also detained a 24-year-old Swiss national for investigation. Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand, a Lausanne city councilor, described the incident in an interview with local media as "closer to a riot than a protest."

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, several fires broke out due to violent protests in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, and about ten people were arrested.

As the protests in France continue to grow, Europe as a whole remains tense. Even the safety of tourists visiting France is under threat. Accordingly, the UK and European countries are advising to "avoid areas affected by protests when visiting France."

Currently, in France, large-scale protests have continued for five days following the incident in which Nael, a 17-year-old second-generation immigrant born to a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother, was shot dead by police while fleeing a traffic checkpoint on the outskirts of Paris on the 27th of last month.

Over the weekend, 2,019 people were detained by police during the protests, and the total number of arrests over the past five days has exceeded 3,000.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated, "About one-third of those arrested are on average 17 years old," and added, "Social media is inciting violence." He further urged, "Extremely sensitive riot scenes on social media should be deleted, and the identities of users inciting violence should be disclosed."