“Convoy of freedom”: Emmanuel Macron calls the participants who converge on Paris “at the greatest cal – franceinfo

It recognizes claims “legitimate” but evokes a “need harmony”. Emmanuel Macron calls “in the greatest calm” the participants of the “freedom convoy”, Friday, February 11, in an interview with West France, before the arrival of this protest movement in the evening in Paris. While saying “hear and respect” discontent resulting from the health crisis, the Head of State believes that France has “need a lot of collective benevolence”.

“We are all collectively tired of what we have been going through for two years, observes the President. This fatigue is expressed in several ways: by disarray in some, depression in others. We see a very strong mental suffering, among our young and old. And sometimes that fatigue also translates into anger.”

“We have always preserved the right to demonstrate, democratic pluralism, parliamentary debates”, he adds. Shortly after the publication of this interview, the Paris administrative court upheld the ban on the assembly of the convoy, which had been decreed on Thursday. The police headquarters had invoked “risks of public order disturbances” and promised a police force “to prevent the blocking of roads, verbalize and challenge violators of this ban”.

On Friday afternoon, the police reported around 3,300 vehicles and 6,000 people in this convoy, which left several French cities to contest in particular the health restrictions, the vaccination pass and the government’s economic policy in these times. high inflation.