Barely a month after fires at a toll station occupied by „yellow vests“, police in France have arrested dozens of suspects. About 160 security forces had been in the action yesterday in action, police said.
There were 35 people taken into custody. They are suspected of being responsible for fires and vandalism at the toll station at Bessan in southern France in mid-December. Several media reported that the detainees were mainly rioters who had then mixed in peaceful „yellow vests“.
It was not until Monday evening that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had announced that the government would step up its fight against rioters in the future. It is also planned a law that organizers of unannounced demonstrations punished harder. „We must preserve the freedom of demonstration in France and punish those who want to hurt them,“ Philippe had said.
Italy’s head of government sympathized with „yellow vests“
Meanwhile, the backing of the Italian government for the protest movement of the „yellow vests“ met with indignation. France yesterday forbade interference in internal affairs on the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi di Maio then accused the government of President Emmanuel Macron of „hypocrisy“.
„The Italian government’s priority should be to care for the well-being of the Italian people,“ said French Minister of European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau in Brussels. The government in Rome has repeatedly demanded respect from its European partners, she stressed. „She has that respect, too, but he can go to any country, especially when it comes to neighbors, allies, and friends.“
