Speaking on the sidelines Paris’ May Day rally, UPR leader François Asselineau, a fierce nationalist, said: “The European Commission makes all the decisions for us – before we are even able to vote!” Mr Asselineau, who is running for a seat in the European parliament in crunch elections next month, took shackles with him to the protest, saying: “[These shackles] are a symbol of the enslavement of France” by the European Union. The parliamentary hopeful, who attended the march alongside scores of pro-Frexit – the French version of the Brexit – activists, also called for a “return to popular sovereignty”.
“Sc**w Macron’s Europe,” the Frexiteers said, as they carried banners calling for the europhile president to be removed from office.
In an interview with France’s Le Figaro newspaper published last month, Mr Asselineau said he and his supporters were “inspired” by Brexit.
“We cannot change Europe – we must therefore leave it,” he said.
Mr Asselineau’s ‘Frexit’ party is expected to win around one percent of the French vote in the bloc’s May 23-26 parliamentary elections, while Mr Macron’s La République en Marche (LREM) is set to win around 22 percent, according to the latest polling data.
The May Day rally in Paris descended into chaos as dozens of anti-government radicals hijacked the protest, setting fire to bins, destroying property, and hurling bottles and rocks at riot police.
Police responded with tear gas and water cannons in an effort to disperse the groups of masked protesters who had immersed themselves in the crowd.
More than 7,000 police were deployed to the city’s streets and they made 380 arrests. Some 191 protesters remained in police custody on Thursday morning.
Thirty-eight people were injured during the rally, including 14 riot police officers with one being hit on the head with a paving stone.
Paris officials had anticipated an outbreak of violence, warning on Tuesday that far-left anarchist groups, known as Black Blocs, and yellow vest militants, would likely infiltrate the protests and target police following calls on social media for radicals to storm the streets.
The yellow vest movement, so-called because of the fluorescent safety jackets all French motorists must carry, began in November over planned fuel tax hikes but has since ballooned into a wider revolt against Mr Macron and his centrist government.
Protesters are opposed to his pro-business economic policies, widely seen as benefiting the urban elite over ordinary citizens, most of whom are struggling to make ends meet.
The 41-year-old leader issued a series of proposals last week in response to the protests, but many in the grassroots movement argue that they do not go far enough and are too vague.
The banners brandished by protesters reflected the frustration among those who feel left behind by Mr Macron’s ambitious but aggressive reform agenda.
“Here are the thugs,” one placard read, showing Mr Macron, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde.
The Interior Ministry said some 164,500 people had taken part in May Day rallies nationwide, including 28,000 in Paris.
The hard-left CGT trade union, however, said 310,000 people had taken to the streets of France, including 80,000 in Paris.