French president Emmanuel Macron will address the nation in the coming week as pressure builds on him from allies to heal the rift opened by the gilets jaunes who have shaken the country with violent and disruptive protests.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, minister of foreign affairs, called on the president to “talk about the implementation of a new social contract” after a weekend in which shops were looted and cars burnt in running battles between protesters and heavily armoured riot police.
In another implicit call for the president to take steps to defuse the protests, Bruno Le Maire, finance minister, told journalists that there was “a crisis of democracy, a crisis of our nation?.?.?.?and the answer has to be on that level”.