The "yellow vest" protests have continued since the first demonstrations organized on Nov. 17, 2018 against the oil hike announced by the French government. In a short period of time, the street gatherings against the French administration have turned out to be the most violent uprisings in the country in recent times.And the picture only gets worse; until now 11 people have lost their lives while more than 2,000 others have been injured in the protests. The French police, since the early days of the demonstrations, has been so ruthless that one of the protesters lost his eye while another got his hand blown off by a grenade fired by the police during last weekend's demonstrations.
Reportedly around 6,000 yellow vests have so far been detained while 1,796 protesters were sentenced to prison and 1,422 others are still awaiting trials.
There is no doubt that President Emmanuel Macron has failed his major test with the yellow vests and has done nothing. To make it worse, whenever he has made a speech on developments, he has only encouraged more hatred from the yellow vests.
Macron does not care what the people on the streets demand economically from his administration, ignoring the hard conditions of living in France. To him, people poured out onto the streets, not because of domestic problems, but due to the encouragement of France's neighboring states, such as Italy.
The Macron administration is so conspiratorial that it even summoned the French ambassador in Rome. The French Foreign Ministry also blamed Italy for what it called verbal attacks against France. According to a ministry statement, Italy's attempt is "without precedent since World War II." The Italian side is totally shocked. Instead of trying to understand what his people are asking for, the French leader has attempted to find a solution in history.
Recently, Macron, in a meeting with the Armenian community in Paris, stated that France "will in the next weeks make April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide," referring the 1915 incidents that took place in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. While making such a critical statement, Macron didn't share or refer to any historical information, research or documents.
The French president has tried any and all means, even if it was fake or wrong, to save his damaged reputation among the international community and distract from what is going on in France with the yellow vest protests. France's EU neighbors, particularly Italy, were Macron's first target, Turkey has now become the second. Let's wait and see which European country will be next.
Emmanuel Macron is not only a disappointment for the French people, but also the rest of Europe. Will the European Union intervene? Or will they allow French citizens to be beaten in the streets and for Macron to spread tension across the continent? Answering it is impossible as the European Union itself is not as united as it was in the past, trying not to collapse.