France is to deploy 70,000 police officers and gendarmes as authorities prepare for renewed protests, with the Louvre and several other major Paris museums ordered to close.
The security operation will include helicopters, armoured vehicles, water cannons and elite police units tasked with protecting public buildings, including town halls, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
The measures follow France’s most violent unrest in years, when protests descended into fires, attacks on public buildings, smashed shop windows, looting and clashes with police.
Demonstrators are expected to return to the streets on Saturday over the rising cost of living. Students, members of the CGT trade union and activists from the yellow vest movement are among those planning to take part.
Mr Nuñez said the operation would be “highly mobile” and warned that officers would take a firm stance against violence.
“There have been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism. There have also been renewed calls for looting, with those messages clearly being spread by rioters,” he said.
He added: “We will be absolutely uncompromising” with those involved in violence, saying police would adopt a “very firm approach”.
The Culture Ministry said the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais would be closed. It called on institutions under its authority to take measures needed to protect visitors and staff and preserve artworks.
Art Basel, one of the world’s leading contemporary art fairs, also closed after just one day open to the public in Paris, with organisers citing the safety of those attending and working at the event.
Authorities are also closely watching a planned demonstration in Orléans, about 110km south of Paris. Around 50 organisations have called for a protest against the far right during a two-day congress of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist, anti-immigration party.
Trade unions, left-wing parties, student organisations and anti-racism groups are among those backing the action. Hugues Moutouh, prefect of the Loiret region, said between 20,000 and 30,000 protesters were expected from across France.
Ms Le Pen, who opinion polls place as the front-runner in next spring’s presidential election, accused left-wing organisations and political parties of trying to “disrupt a political party’s democratic congress”.
Speaking to Franceinfo, she said she had “no concerns” about security because the Government had “recognised the need for measures allowing the congress to proceed safely.”
