Foreign Office warns Germans in France as ‘war-like’ protests spread

School protests in France, in response to overcrowded classrooms and a lack of resources and funding for education, have grown rapidly since mid-September and spread beyond France inspiring similar protests in the large cities of many neighbouring countries.

On Sunday, as France was reeling from widespread damage which locals described as “like a war”, the German Foreign Ministry was warning travellers from getting swept up in the chaos.

“Further demonstrations and possibly riots in the coming days cannot be ruled out,” said the Foreign Ministry’s updated travel and security advice for France on Sunday evening. “Behave prudently and avoid demonstrations if possible.”

The travel warning comes as related demonstrations have spread beyond their initial flashpoints in France and Belgium and into other countries including Italy, Greece, Ireland, Albania and to some extent also in Austria and Germany.

An explosive goes off during a demonstration in Albania staged in front of the Ministry of Education. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP | Hameraldi Agolli

German citizens should follow the “instructions of the local security and law enforcement forces” said the Foreign Ministry.

The ministry added that fines and claims for damages can be imposed on anyone who does not leave “unauthorized and violent demonstrations” when asked.

Photos from French cities, following particularly intense demonstrations on Saturday night, showed glass-littered streets and cars and buildings burnt-out.

In Paris, police said a “record” 855 people had been arrested. According to government figures, around 550,000 people took part in the actions nationwide.

Protests in Paris and throughout France have since evolved from school protests to demonstrations against the rising cost of living, which have grown larger and increasingly destructive.

So far nationwide school protests have not manifest in Germany, but student demonstrators did block several high schools in Berlin over the weekend, and were met by a police response.

The German Press Agency reported about 50 students gathered in front of a high school in Berlin-Friedrichshain, blocking campus entrances and demanding more money for education, and demonstrating against compulsory military service.

A police spokesman said that at its peak, the demonstration was observed by 150 officers. They added that the demonstration was peaceful.

An independent news outlet called Our Central Europe reported demonstrations at the Andreas-Gymnasium in Friedrichshain and also the Leibniz-Gymnasium in Kreuzberg.

Previously, 150 students of the French Gymnasium in Berlin had barricaded the entrance of their school calling for solidarity with the growing movement in France.

In an op-ed published by Tagesspiegel, Monique-Olivia Mertins, from Berlin’s state school committee, argues that German schools also suffer from a lack of funding, teacher shortages and a political class that too often ignores the needs of Germans who are mostly too young to vote.

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“In winter, we sit in unheated rooms because the heating doesn’t work again. In summer, the heat becomes so extreme that neither students nor teachers can concentrate…We have far too few teachers. Far too many lessons are cancelled…But the pressure remains the same, we still take the exams,” Mertins writes.