French riot police oust student protesters

President Macron calls demonstrators ‘agitators’

PARIS— Paris riot police ousted students seeking to occupy Sorbonne University, and strikes Friday shut down the Eiffel Tower and two-thirds of French trains — all part of a season of simmering national discontent.

Much of the anger centers on President Emmanuel Macron, but he went on national TV on Thursday to declare that strikes and protests won’t prevent him from overhauling France’s economy so it can better compete on the global stage.

Rail workers resumed a strike that will disrupt travel through June. But the number of striking workers was down from previous actions, and international trains largely went through.

National railway authority SNCF said 80 per cent of Eurostar trains between Paris and London will run on Saturday, and the Thalys trains between France, Belgium and the Netherlands are expected to run normally. But only one-third of France’s high-speed and regional trains will run.

The Eiffel Tower announced it was closed to the public Friday because of a strike by security personnel. Their demands were not immediately clear. The Sorbonne announced that its iconic Left Bank site was closed Friday for security reasons after the Thursday night police operation. While about 200 students were evacuated, a few hundred others gathered outside, chanting angrily at police.

Students in France are protesting against admissions reforms they fear threaten access to public university for French high school graduates. Macron dismissed them Thursday as “professional agitators.”