Pushkov called the protests in France a civil war

The ongoing protests are caused by the wrong policies of President Emmanuel Macron and are nothing more than a "civil war." This was announced on October 18 by Alexey Pushkov, head of the Federation Council Commission on Information Policy and media Relations.

"Macron's legacy: France is on fire. Paris is on fire. The Limoges City Hall is on fire, set on fire by protesters. Marseille is on fire. There is a civil war in France. We've played up the freedom of migration," the senator said in his Telegram channel.

The senator noted that the French leader has turned into an "irresponsible talker" who is looking for a threat from Russia in everything and sees "Russians at the gates of Paris."

"But the Russians are not the enemies of the French. They should look for enemies elsewhere," Pushkov summed up.

School protests provoked a split in France before the presidential election. Analysis

The press service of the Elysee Palace reported that Macron intends to address the nation amid large-scale unrest in the country. The appeal is scheduled for 20:00 (21:00 Moscow time. — Ed.) on Sunday, October 18. Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), called the protests in France the suicide of Western civilization.

The protests in France began at the end of September with demonstrations by high school students in the Ile-de-France metropolitan region due to problems in the field of education. Subsequently, the actions spread to other regions of the country. The French BFMTV channel reported on October 17 that farmers, climate activists and former members of the Yellow Vests movement had joined large-scale protests by students and schoolchildren in France, and the total number of demonstrators exceeded 500 thousand people.