The main event of the action is a rally that started on the Place de l'Opera in the center of Paris at 12:00 Paris time (13:00 Moscow time). A large group of protesters is expected to head for the Place de la Bastille soon. Double-decker buses are also running through the city today, in which protest organizers are shouting out slogans to "join efforts for the common goal and go the whole way."
According to Paris prefect Michel Delpuech, about 2,000 policemen and gendarmes are keeping order on the city streets today. The decision to tighten security was taken after protests had sparked on May 1 in the French capital during a march. Then, a group of 1,200 masked anarchists and extreme leftists clothed in black joined a group of peaceful demonstrators and started smashing shop windows and setting cars, bicycles and dustbins on fire.
According to Delpuech, "security was tightened under the direct government order." The prefect said that the new demonstration organizers also beefed up security at their events, increasing the number of participants to 150 people.
Similar demonstrations are taking place in almost all large French cities today. Mass rallies are planned in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Rennes. A protest rally was earlier held in Nice.
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