The street riots that have been shaking France for days have had far-reaching diplomatic consequences. The chaotic situation has led to the postponement of nothing less than Charles III’s first visit abroad since he acceded to the throne of England, an important trip to consolidate the rapprochement between Paris and London after the strong tensions of Brexit.
The cancellation of the visit, which is postponed and will be rescheduled – in principle for the beginning of the summer, if both agendas allow -, was announced yesterday by the Elisi after a telephone conversation between Macron and Charles III himself. The French head of state was in Brussels to attend the European Council.
The forced change of plans was a blow to France’s high self-esteem and to the internal and external image of Macron, who appears at the head of a country overwhelmed by social anger and fractured. It shows the severity of the crisis. Charles III had decided that France would be his first destination, before flying to Berlin. The visit to Germany does go ahead as planned.
The monarch of the United Kingdom was due to arrive in Paris on Sunday. A ceremony was planned in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, at the Arc de Triomphe, a visit to the Orsay Museum and a gala dinner, on Monday, at the Palace of Versailles.
The moment was very inopportune and awkward. It meant a security risk for travel, extra work for a police force that does not give the scope and political discomfort for Macron. He had to play host to nothing less than the stage par excellence of the French absolute monarchy.
Charles III had to travel to Bordeaux, where the City Council was the victim of a fire caused by demonstrators at the monumental entrance of the historic building on Thursday.
During a press conference in Brussels, Macron confirmed that he had proposed the postponement. “We would not be serious and, certainly, we would lack sense if we proposed to his majesty and the queen consort to come to make this state visit at a time of demonstrations”. The president recalled that there is another day of protests called for Tuesday, March 28.
“Since we have a lot of friendship, respect and esteem for his majesty the King, for the Queen consort and for the British people, I took the initiative to call him”, added the tenant of the Elysee. For Macron, the “detestable” would have been to allow him to come and witness incidents. The logic is that the visit should be “when calm returns”. The president did not bite the hook when a British journalist asked him if canceling the King’s visit because he could not guarantee his security was not “a total humiliation for France”.
The strikes had put in danger that the red carpet would be rolled out for Charles III, due to a lack of staff, that he would take a TGV to Bordeaux, as was the will of the sovereign environmentalist, or that he would get on a tram in this city, as planned.
Yesterday was a day to assess the damage caused by Thursday’s riots, the most serious since the protests against the two-year delay in the retirement age began. There were hundreds of injured policemen, as well as arrests. The streets of Paris, protagonists of the riots, offered a deplorable appearance. Many neighbors scrambled to clean and collect the remains of the battle.
One of the concerns now is fuel supply. Police arrived at the TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville-l’Orcher in Normandy at four in the morning to disperse unionists and ensure that four workers could enter to operate the taps on the kerosene tanks and that the trucks could load the fuel. This minimum essential staff was forced to work by an extraordinary order of the prefect, provided for by law, given the emergency circumstances.
Kerosene reserves at Paris airports are minimal, to the point that the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked airlines to, as far as possible, fill the tanks of planes abroad so as not to having to be supplied in France.
Macron, speaking from Brussels, appeared willing to meet with union leaders to discuss improvements for older workers and other proposals he made during Wednesday’s controversial televised interview. But he refused to reconsider the pension reform, which is now only pending examination by the Constitutional Council to be promulgated.
Given the criticism for some actions of disproportionate police repression, Macron defended the conduct of the majority of law enforcement and highlighted the difficult conditions in which they do their work.
Just yesterday, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatovic, expressed her alarm at the harshness of the police. “There were violent incidents, such as those suffered by law enforcement, but sporadic acts of violence by some demonstrators or other reprehensible acts committed by others in the course of the demonstration should not justify the use excessive use of force by the agents of the State – pointed out Mijatovic. Nor do these acts justify depriving peaceful demonstrators of enjoying the right to freedom of assembly.”
