France suspends fuel tax hike for 6 months to quell protests
December 4, 2018
France has suspended a planned fuel tax hike which has sparked violent protests. In a televised address, the prime minister called for an end to the demonstrations, saying "no tax deserves to risk unity of the nation."
Image: Reuters/B. Tessier
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French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday that a fuel tax increase planned for January 1 had been suspended for six months. The move to end violent "yellow vest" protests against the measure was announced during a televised address.
Philippe called for an end to the violence, saying "no tax deserves to risk unity of the nation."
"It's a first step, but we will not settle for a crumb," said Benjamin Cauchy, one of the leaders of the protests.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right party National Rally (formerly the National Front), tweeted: "A moratorium on taxes is being considered. But a moratorium is only a postponement."
Republican Senator Bruno Retailleau described the moratorium as a reprieve and "absolutely inadequate." He said the French people called for "a cancellation."
Police 'violence' probe opened
Meanwhile, the Paris Public Prosecutors Office said it has started an investigation into "violence by persons holding public authority" after a video was broadcast on social networks showing a man apparently being beaten up by eight police officers on Saturday.
Running urban battles
Over the weekend, protesters set fire to dozens of cars and several storefronts along the Champs Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe was sprayed with graffiti.
Cultural monuments targeted by vandals
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin are famed monuments that draw millions of annual visitors. But this has also made them a the target of vandalism.
Image: Reuters/S. Mahe
Landmark attack
Graffiti on the façade of the Arc de Triomphe, smashed glass cases inside, a beheaded marble bust of Napoleon and plundered showrooms: During the riots in the wake of the Yellow Vest movement protests in Paris, the iconic Arc De Triomphe has suffered damage amounting to around one million euros. French President Macron responded with strong words: "I will never accept violence."
Image: Imago/S. Kelpa
Besmirching a Danish icon
When environmental activists drenched Copenhagen's The Little Mermaid in blood red paint, the soiling of the landmark came with a clear message. Written on the shore in front of the monument were the words: "Denmark defend the whales of the Faroe Islands." Placed as a tribute to Danish author Hans Christian Andersen in 1913, the mermaid has often been damaged, with rioters twice decapitating her.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Scanpix/I. M. Odgaard
'Feed the homeless'
It took just 48 hours for this David Bowie monument to be defaced by activists after its grand unveiling in March, 2018. A slogan was quickly added to the foot of the the UK's first public statue of Bowie that shows the musician as his alter ego Ziggy Stardust. "Feed the homeless first," it read. The smear campaign was likely a response to the cost of the monument, including £100,000 crowdfunding.
Image: Imago/i Images
Patriotic protest
This statue of Immanuel Kant in the Russian city of Kaliningrad — the philosopher was a resident when it was part of East Prussia — was paint bombed in November, 2018. As the city's airport was to be named after the German philosopher, patriotic vandals also put out leaflets reading: "Banish the name of this enemy German with an Orthodox cross!" Kant is also the namesake of the local university.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/V. Nevar
Unholy Walls
This nearly 160-meter-high cathedral is actually the pride of Cologne. Nevertheless, the landmark has to constantly face vandalism of every kind: Public urination, broken stone work and graffiti on the facades. Indeed, the entrance to of the world's third largest cathedral even had to once withstand the collision of a small car. The annual cost of the damage is estimated at €60,000.
Image: picture-alliance/Arco Images/Schoening
Shameless public peeing
Berlin's iconic landmarks are also not immune from vandalism. A 22-year-old was fined €1500 after he urinated on the venerable Holocaust Memorial. Meanwhile, the open-air museum known as the East Side Gallery has also seen its fair share of public peeing, graffiti and general damage to the wearing former wall. Thankfully, a railing will soon protect the monument.
Image: DW/T. Kakareko
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Talking tough
French President Emmanuel Macron had denounced the protests and vowed a tough response.
"I will never accept violence," Macron said from the G20 summit in Argentina. "No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc de Triomphe is defiled."
The protests descended into the worst urban violence France has seen in a decade. Police used water cannon to quash the unrest.
The proposed tax would have raised gasoline price by 4 euro cents per liter. Gasoline currently costs about 1.42 euros ($1.62) a liter in Paris, slightly more than diesel.
Planned rises in electricity and gas prices, and plans to tighten safety checks on vehicles were also suspended.
"These decisions, with immediate effect, should return calm to the country," Philippe said, calling for a "real dialogue on all the concerns expressed in these last weeks."
