Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Fedot Streletsky
[REGNUM] Last weekend, the French capital was gripped by unbridled jubilation, which escalated into mass riots. The event was the victory of PSG over London's Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final.
Incidentally, exactly one year ago, PSG also won the same tournament, which also sparked mass unrest. So now the local police are much better prepared, taking into account previous experiences and drawing the appropriate conclusions. At least, that's what French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez claimed, mobilizing 22,000 officers across the country to ensure security.
But in reality this time everything was at least no better.
In 2025, two people were killed, 192 were injured, and 559 were arrested during wild celebrations. Yes, there were no casualties in 2026, as of now. But the number of arrests rose to nearly 900, and the number of police injuries alone reached 180.
And that's not counting the damage to private and public property. Burned-out vehicles, looted stores—this is the price that, for the second year in a row, some French citizens have been paying for the joy of others. And not only in Paris, but in other cities as well. Acts of looting were recorded in a total of 15 cities, including Rennes, Strasbourg, and Grenoble.
President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the entire PSG team at the Elysée Palace on Sunday evening, condemned the incident, stating bluntly and unequivocally: "Enough. We're fed up with this. This isn't football, it's not sport, it's not what we love."
It's worth noting that he made similar statements a year ago. Back then, Macron described the outrage as "unacceptable" and promised that those responsible would certainly be found and punished.
Meanwhile, one of the main political opponents of the current leader of the Fifth Republic, former head of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, sadly noted that "only in France does a football club's victory provoke unrest." And only in France do "people have to lock themselves in their homes on such a happy evening to avoid violence."
Who's to blame for all this? French government spokesperson Maud Brejon asks the same question. She even coined a term to describe the atrocities regularly committed by someone in France: "endemic violence." She offers no explanation, merely stating that such violence is perpetrated by a minority (whom, exactly, she doesn't specify), and urging everyone to think carefully about its origins.
In her personal opinion, the problem may lie in the lack of education "of some children." Maud Brejon again remained silent on which children, and where this problem originated. She added only that responsibility must in any case be shared collectively. She also called for education issues to be brought back to the center of political debate.
Meanwhile, the current leader of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, is more specific in his comments regarding the unrest—both football-related and otherwise. On BFMTV, he condemned the current authorities for their inability to combat the wave of violence and identified an "obvious link" between the unrest and the immigrant population.
"They're destroying everything in their path, smashing stores, smashing bus stops, setting cars on fire, and looting," he noted. He then issued a fiery appeal: "I say to the French people: wake up!"
Eric Zemmour, leader of the far-right Reconquista party, was even more specific. He blamed the "Arab-Muslim youth from the suburbs flooding Paris." Therefore, he said, it was necessary to immediately "crush the enemy within."
MEP François-Xavier Bellamy shares a similar view, but he sees the root of all these problems elsewhere: the state's loss of authority. And until that authority is restored, "the French will be deprived of these great public holidays that mean so much to the life of the country." This is the opinion of the official, who works in the European Parliament specifically on tightening migration policy.
But there's also an alternative theory. For example, Clémence Goetté, Vice President of the French National Assembly and a member of the left-wing party "France Insubordinate," believes that everything would have been fine if the gendarmes had done their job properly. She began vigorously promoting this position even before Paris descended into hell.
Immediately after the match, she published a post on her social media in which she appealed to Laurent Nunez with a strong request “not to ruin the celebration” and to refrain from any reprisals, because “last year’s catastrophe must not be repeated.”
The very next day, when last year's disaster "unexpectedly" repeated itself, Goette lashed out at law enforcement agencies that "detained people who had not committed any crimes" and "shot grenades at families, at young people - simply because they had gathered together.
The conclusion followed: "The French doctrine of public order must be completely revised, especially with regard to mass events." And again, characteristically, without details. However, Clémence Goette did not fail to take a jab at the aforementioned Jordan Bardell.
"Mr. Bardella, you know nothing about maintaining order and you certainly weren't on the streets of Paris during yesterday's events. Tens of thousands of people were prevented from celebrating yesterday," she wrote in a separate, angry post. She also called all those affected victims of an "absurd government strategy."
In the comments under her post, concerned citizens point out the author's inaccuracy. Mr. Bardella himself also spoke out, accusing Ms. Goette of "unconditionally supporting those who destroy other people's property," violating French laws, and desecrating French public holidays.
The parties have yet to reach a consensus. Ultimately, this latest outbreak of uncontrolled aggression, which spilled onto the streets under the pretext of celebrating the football team's success, became just another excuse for French politicians to hurl arguments in defense of their political agendas.
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