France Experiences Unrest Following Champions League Final

National Rally leader Jordan Bardera expressed concern that France has slipped into a situation reminiscent of “civil war” following the Champions League final over the weekend. He believes the only way to truly restore order is by reinstating immigration controls.

Chaos erupted across the country on Saturday. Rioting and looting occurred in numerous cities and towns after Paris Saint-Germain, owned by Qatari investors, secured their second consecutive league title in a nail-biting shootout with Arsenal in London.

According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, around 890 arrests were made between Saturday and Sunday, reflecting a 45% increase from the previous year. Additionally, 178 police officers sustained injuries during the upheaval. Paris prosecutor Laure Becuaux reported that some officers were attacked with makeshift bombs, leading to severe injuries.

Speaking to BFMTV on Monday, Bardera, who is also a potential presidential candidate, voiced his horror over the riots involving large groups of young people in various cities. He described scenes akin to civil war conditions in central Paris, with shops being ransacked and law enforcement officers under siege. “We are accustomed to this violence, but it’s only going to escalate,” he said.

“France has become a place where it’s almost impossible to celebrate. Every football event, every public festival is marred by chaos,” he added.

Bardera urged the French populace to “wake up” to the risks they face, warning that without government action on immigration, mobs could soon invade homes and buildings. He linked the unrest to a longstanding failure to control immigration, pointing out that it often relates to specific multicultural football clubs rather than other sporting events that had gone smoothly.

This view wasn’t isolated to Bardera alone. Former interior minister and current presidential hopeful Bruno Letailault echoed similar sentiments, claiming the violence stemmed from immigrants undermining the rule of law.

Responses to the riots have garnered international attention. U.S. Senator Mike Lee called for mass deportations in light of the disturbances he observed from clips of the riots. Additionally, Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders and Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s AfD party, expressed alarming views linking immigration to the unrest.

Public sentiment is shifting as well, with a pre-violence poll indicating that over 70% of French citizens believe crime is “out of control” and fear the country could resemble Mexico, where criminal organizations operate without challenge.

Yet, the government seems to maintain a different perspective. Minister Nuñez commented on Monday that despite the violence and unrest, the high number of arrests reflects that their response was “successful.”