French Police Fire Tear Gas as Protests Spread After the National Assembly Rejects the 2027 Budget

France's fiscal consolidation is meeting resistance both in the streets and in parliament. On Saturday, riot police in Paris fired tear gas at protesters at Place de la Nation, and Russian state broadcaster RT reported hundreds of arrests as clashes spread to other cities, including Lyon. Officials have not published an arrest total for Saturday.

The unrest followed a defeat for the government in the National Assembly. Lawmakers rejected the 2027 budget bill, which sought about €54 billion in savings through broad spending cuts. On Thursday, the Interior Ministry counted about 600,000 marchers nationwide, the largest turnout since the protests began in September. The unions said nearly 1.6 million took part.

The next round has already been called. Russia's BFM.ru reports that France's teaching and research unions have called a strike for Nov. 10, saying insufficient pay is their main grievance. Pay demands from the public sector cut directly against the spending restraint the budget was meant to deliver.

Coverage differs by outlet. RT, which has an interest in showing disorder in a leading European Union state that backs Ukraine, focused on the violence and the arrests. Western outlets focused on the size of the turnout and the budget arithmetic. Both describe the same situation: a government without a parliamentary majority, a deficit it has promised to cut, and a public that rejects the cuts.