Morning opening: French protests continue to escalate with 400 schools closed on Friday

Jakub Krupa

Some 100 schools have been severely damaged during French high school protests that escalated this week into “urban violence,” with 40 headteachers injured, according to the latest figures from the French education ministry.

French high school students gather outside the Lycee Voltaire high school in France. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

The pupils’ grievances range from overloaded timetables and overcrowded classes to insufficient teachers and unbearable temperatures during heatwaves earlier this year. Riot police have been deployed to confront the increasingly violent protests.

Nearly 3,000 lycée students – aged between 15 and 18 – have been detained since the start of the protests, including 1,949 on Thursday alone, the interior ministry said.

During a call with local prosecutors last night, the justice minister Gérald Darmanin urged them to pursue civil liability claims so that parents are made financially responsible for damage caused by their children.

Meanwhile, education minister Édouard Geffray asked parents for help, warning that “children are in danger on the streets.”

But there are no signs of tensions going down, with first incidents reported near the Jean-Rostand high school in Strasbourg and the Simone-Veil high school in Marseille. Some 400 schools remain closed today.

A student walks in a cloud of tear gas smoke as part of a student blockading protest near the Couffignal secondary school, in Strasbourg. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

Damages from this week’s protests are likely to go into hundreds of millions euros, with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region reporting 25 million in damages.

I will keep an eye on that for you, and bring you all the latest from Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, too.

It’s Friday, 2 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.

Key events

We are getting more pictures from Strasbourg…

Students kick back tear gas canisters as they carry out a blocking protest at the Strasbourg University, in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

French police officers stand in front of burnt barriers and trash bags as students carry out a blocking protest at the Strasbourg University, in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

Back to France, the situation appears to be escalating again in Strasbourg, where protesters are building a barrier and clashing with the local police.

A student moves a barrier as students carry out a blocking protest at the Strasbourg University, in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

A student drops a barrier as students carry out a blocking protest at the Strasbourg University, in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

Students move barriers and hold a banner reading "From university to secondary school, we're right to rebel" as they carry out a blocking protest at the Strasbourg University, in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

Further incidents are also reported in Paris and Nantes, where at least ten people were arrested during a clash with riot police this morning.

Students look at a fire as protesting students carry out blockading action at the Galilee vocation school, in Paris. Photograph: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

Swedish Social Democratic leader Andersson gets second chance to form government

There are also big news lines emerging from Sweden, as the parliament speaker Andreas Norlén has asked Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson to have another go at forming the new Swedish government.

Swedish Social Democratic party Magdalena Andersson claps on stage as the general election’s voting results are released in Stockholm, Sweden. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

She will be given a week, starting on Monday, to see if she can build a government that would secure enough support in the new parliament. At the end of that period she will need to report back or ask for an extension.

The move comes just days after Andersson said on Monday she was unable to secure enough backing after a potential coalition partner backed Norlén, a centre-right politician, for the post of the speaker (Europe Live, Monday).

It’s worth remembering that Sweden runs on the principle of “negative parliamentarism,” meaning that any PM needs to see an absence of an absolute majority against them – instead of an absolute majority in favour – which creates a bit of breathing space as parties can still abstain (Europe Live, Swedish election night).

Let’s see what she can do in the next few days.

French high school students gather outside the Lycee Voltaire high school as part of nationwide protests in Paris, France. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

The prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France told BFMTV that the situation on the ground was “incomparable” to the riots on Thursday, with “far fewer demonstrators” joining the protests today.

11 schools in the region are affected, while 55 switched to e-learning, Jacques Witkowski told the broadcaster.

Morning opening: French protests continue to escalate with 400 schools closed on Friday

Some 100 schools have been severely damaged during French high school protests that escalated this week into “urban violence,” with 40 headteachers injured, according to the latest figures from the French education ministry.

French high school students gather outside the Lycee Voltaire high school in France. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

The pupils’ grievances range from overloaded timetables and overcrowded classes to insufficient teachers and unbearable temperatures during heatwaves earlier this year. Riot police have been deployed to confront the increasingly violent protests.

Nearly 3,000 lycée students – aged between 15 and 18 – have been detained since the start of the protests, including 1,949 on Thursday alone, the interior ministry said.

During a call with local prosecutors last night, the justice minister Gérald Darmanin urged them to pursue civil liability claims so that parents are made financially responsible for damage caused by their children.

Meanwhile, education minister Édouard Geffray asked parents for help, warning that “children are in danger on the streets.”

But there are no signs of tensions going down, with first incidents reported near the Jean-Rostand high school in Strasbourg and the Simone-Veil high school in Marseille. Some 400 schools remain closed today.

A student walks in a cloud of tear gas smoke as part of a student blockading protest near the Couffignal secondary school, in Strasbourg. Photograph: Romeo Boetzle/AFP/Getty Images

Damages from this week’s protests are likely to go into hundreds of millions euros, with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region reporting 25 million in damages.

I will keep an eye on that for you, and bring you all the latest from Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, too.

It’s Friday, 2 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.