French agents compare protests over health pass to ‘yellow vests’
FRENCH domestic intelligence yesterday drew parallels between protests against the Paris government’s new Covid health pass and the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) movement, warning this weekend could be a key test for the future of the demonstrations, which have grown over the past two weeks.
Some 160,000 protesters took part in more than 200 demonstrations across France last Saturday – 30 per cent more than the week before. This is about half the number of people who turned out for the first gilets jaunes protests against fuel hikes in November 2018.
Last week, agents warned of a risk of “radicalisation” of the movement if it were to persist over the summer.
A fresh note leaked to Le Parisien newspaper yesterday said this Saturday would be a “veritable test”.
“Traditionally a day of mass holiday travel, the heaviest in the summer period,” it said Saturday “will enable us to observe the determination of various protesters following the approval of the [health pass law]” by MPS last weekend.
The demonstrations will come a day before use of the health pass – which is proof of double vaccination, a negative test or immunity – will be extended to bars, cafés and restaurants. It is already required for museums and cinemas in
‘Saturday will enable us to observe the determination of protesters following the approval of the health pass’
France and will be needed for long-distance domestic travel from some point yet to be announced between Aug 7-10.
Intelligence agents forecast that the protest movement “will probably last all summer” even if the scale of those protests is “hard to predict”.
The note leaked to the press said that the protest movement bore both similarities and differences with the gilets jaunes revolt, which started out as a peaceful rally against green fuel tax and ended up in far more radical, often violent protests in city centres.
“Unlike the yellow vest movement [which ballooned in autumn 2018 before a drop in the numbers taking part] mobilisation against the new governmental health measures in midsummer season, has gone up”, the leaked note said.
Like the gilets jaunes, this movement has no defined structure, relies heavily on social networks and messaging, does not warn authorities about its actions and is largely made up of “citizens unused to demonstrating, who mobilised to defend a cause, the defence of freedom”, the note said.
As for the differences, it added that while the yellow vests enjoyed widespread public support, the same could not be said for health pass protesters.
It said: “49 per cent of the French population are strongly opposed to them and 16 per cent indifferent”.
Mass demonstrations often receive far stronger support in France.