“We have gone from high-school student demonstrations to a public-order disturbance. When people target buses and set schools on fire, it is no longer simply a protest issue”, he also said.
In an interview with broadcaster France 2, French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Thursday evening that “a little over 400 schools and other educational establishments” would remain closed on Friday.
According to a source close to Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, intelligence agencies told a crisis meeting on Thursday that the protest movement had been initiated by politicians from the hard left, including members of La France Insoumise (LFI).
LFI lawmaker Louis Boyard denied the claim in comments to French broadcasters.