Violence in France has spread across Europe after Milan was plunged into chaos with rioting and looting last night – while far-Left agitators were blamed for ‘waging war’ on the continent.
President Emmanuel Macron vowed to hold to account those who ‘sought to bring down the Republic’ following a weekend of disorder involving half a million protesters.
But the trouble reached Italy on Sunday where rioters were seen hurling bottles, ransacking stores and destroying property.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for an urgent security meeting to address the violence, which resembled scenes of chaos and looting in Paris.
Meanwhile US President Donald Trump had hours earlier blamed immigration for the disorder in France that saw a historic town hall torched, businesses ransacked and hundreds injured.
As chaos spread to Milan and Lisbon over the weekend, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: ‘France is burning!
‘The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country.
‘Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!’
Protesters vandalize a shop during protests in Milan, Italy, on Sunday after disorder spread across Europe
Three black-clad young men are seen exiting a shop with a smashed glass door and bits of debris on the floor
A fire is seen burning and destroying the city hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during ongoing protest action against the ‘high cost of living’ in Limoges
Kirill Dmitriev, a liaison between Vladimir Putin and Washington, said: ‘Left-wing globalists are sowing migration-driven chaos.’
Demonstrations were started by teachers and students a month ago in response to staff shortages and have grown into a wider movement against rising prices.
They have been joined by extremist politicians and activists such as Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of the hard-Left France Unbowed party.
Scenes from the weekend showed looters in France smashing their way into designer stores to steal luxury items amid the ‘unrestrained violence’.
Dozens of hooded young men were filmed swarming high-end outlets like Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, leaving shelves of expensive jewellery and clothing entirely bare.
President Macron blamed ‘agitators from far-Left fringe groups, joined by numerous criminals’ for plunging his country into ‘unbridled violence’.
He made a plea ‘for unity’ following the weekend of chaos, which saw nearly 2,400 people arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured – seven seriously.
Clashes in Milan began on Saturday on the sidelines of a sanctioned cost-of-living demonstration. Similar troubles took place in the northern cities of Bologna and Turin following other protests.
Police carry out numerous detentions and arrests as protesters, including many young demonstrators, flee from law enforcement during urban unrest following demonstrations in Milan
Protesters gathered in Milan to take part in disorder which was condemned in strong terms by the country’s prime minister
Two rubbish cans are seen kicked over onto the floor on tram tracks in Milan amid violent disorder
Pink smoke is seen rising from a street in Milan after police carried out multiple arrests during the second day of riots
Protesters are seen vandalizing a shop during disorder in Milan, with many covering their face and dressing in dark colours
The historic Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) was obscured by tear gas during violent protests
On Sunday, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse groups in the Milan square and photographs showed young people, many wearing masks, throwing objects at police cars.
A supermarket on a shopping street leading off the Duomo plaza was ransacked, rubbish cans overturned and scooters and bicycles vandalised.
The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, said he had witnessed ‘smashed shop windows, looted stores, and frightened citizens’.
‘What happened here is what we are seeing in many cities around the world,’ he said.
‘I’m very worried because it’s a new phenomenon, which also originates from an international scenario and therefore feeds itself.’
Prime Minister Meloni on Saturday called the vandals ‘thugs who exploit demonstrations to spread chaos, attack those who guarantee security, and hold entire cities hostage’.
‘To demonstrate is a right. To lay our cities to waste is not,’ she wrote on X.
Government ministers joined Ms Meloni in condemning the attacks. Matteo Salvini, head of the hard-Right League party and deputy prime minister, described the scenes as ‘urban warfare’.
Demonstrators protest against housing shortage, soaring rents and low wages on Rossio square in central Lisbon on October 17
Banners held up by protesters demanded higher wages and pensions and focussed on the rising cost of housing and fuel
Demonstrators are seen chanting as they protest in Lisbon, Portugal
France’s Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu (L) and France’s President Emmanuel Macron attend an Interministerial Crisis Meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris
Hundreds of people were arrested during and after violent protests in France that saw clashes, arson and looting. The aftermath of the blaze is seen here
Demonstrators react to tear gas, the day after a national day of demonstrations and amid renewed looting on Sunday
People try to destroy the window of a Snipes store near Chatelet-Les Halles as clashes erupt at Place de la Republique following an unauthorised demonstration on Sunday
A man tries to extinguish a fire during clashes between protesters and police in Paris on Sunday
A demonstrator stands as flames rise behind them, during civil unrest, the day after a national day of demonstrations
Portugal was also swayed by the unrest, with demonstrators protesting against housing shortages, increasing rents and low wages over the weekend on Rossio Square in central Lisbon.
Banners held up by protesters demanded higher wages and pensions and focused on the rising cost of housing and fuel.
In a live TV address on Sunday night, Mr Macron said: ‘Looking at these images, we have all asked ourselves how French people could do this to France.
‘Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it.
‘Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.’
One of the most dramatic images was that of the historic clock tower of 140-year-old Limoges town hall crumbling in an inferno. On Sunday, the town’s mayor Guillaume Guerin took aim at extremists for ‘whipping the kids into a frenzy’.
He said: ‘Those who organise everything, who bring the battering rams, who smash the windows and identify the basement entrances in this town hall so they can get in – they are not the kids.
‘They are people who are organised to wage war.’ He added: ‘The logistics, the organisation, the premeditation behind yesterday’s attack on the town hall is something I find unbearable.’
Another defining image came from Paris where a female protester tried to stop thugs looting a grocery store. Blocking them from entering through a smashed door, she pleaded: ‘Why are you doing this? Stop! This isn’t the cause!’ But the masked rioters smashed past her.
Stores selling trainers or smartphones were a particular target for the looters, many of whom travelled around on rental e-bikes.
‘It was apocalyptic,’ a police commander told Le Parisien newspaper. ‘Law enforcement was unable to contain the multitude of simultaneous attacks across the country.’
After Mr Macron’s speech, rioters and looters returned to the streets of Paris, setting up barricades and engaging in running battles with police. ‘We are here because we want Macron to resign,’ one demonstrator said.
