French authorities have arrested over 890 people after outbreaks of violence followed Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory on Saturday, as the government defended its policing operation amid sharp criticism from the right.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Monday that the number of arrests was 45 percent higher than after last year’s Champions League final, while 178 members of the security forces were injured.
Around 22,000 police officers had been deployed across France for the match between PSG and Arsenal, played in Budapest, where the Paris club secured a second consecutive European title.
“We had a large operation in place which worked overall because we arrested a huge number of people,” Nuñez told France Inter radio, insisting that the authorities had anticipated trouble and acted firmly.
“We knew that these celebrations would lead to riots, urban violence, looting and attacks on the police,” he said. “We had a major deployment in place, and there were instructions for extremely firm action. That is what was done systematically.”
A night of celebration turns violent
PSG’s victory sparked jubilation among supporters, but celebrations in Paris and other cities were overshadowed by unrest, with reports of looting, damage to shops, smashed bus shelters, burning cars and clashes with police.
Nuñez said the arrests took place on Saturday and Sunday, and described the police response as robust. His comments came as the government sought to counter accusations that it had failed to contain the disturbances despite the large-scale security deployment.
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on France Info that the violence pointed to deeper problems in French society.
“We have a problem of endemic violence in France,” she said. “We have an educational problem, we have a cultural problem. This goes beyond the issue of law enforcement measures.”
Political right seizes on unrest
The violence quickly became a political flashpoint, with far-right leaders using the disturbances to attack the government’s record on security and immigration.
Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, denounced what he called the state’s failure to respond to a “wave of violence” and argued that there was an “obvious link” between the unrest and immigration.
Speaking on BFMTV/RMC, Bardella said France had witnessed “scenes of civil war” and warned that violence was making public life increasingly difficult.
“They’re destroying everything in their path, smashing up shops, smashing bus shelters, burning cars and then looting,” he said. “I’m telling the French people: wake up.”
He added that security would be central to the next presidential campaign, saying France was becoming a country where “life and celebration have become completely impossible”.
Éric Zemmour, leader of far-right Reconquête party, also blamed the violence on what he described as “Arab-Muslim youths from the suburbs flooding into Paris”. Speaking on Sud Radio, he called for the authorities to “subdue the enemy within” and accused ministers of merely supervising looters rather than restoring order.
The government, meanwhile, has emphasised the scale of the arrests and the size of the police deployment, arguing that officers acted decisively in difficult circumstances.
(With newswires)
