France’s anti-government protesters have gained new allies with paramedics and students joining the ongoing rallies after a “day of unprecedented violence.”

President Emmanuel Macron has cancelled his trip to Serbia so he can deal with the aftermath of the shocking protests that rocked Paris on the weekend.

The French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has also met with political rivals in a bid to ease the anger following the riots.

The violence is considered the most serious political crisis since Mr Macron was elected in May 2017.

On the weekend more than 130 people were injured and 412 arrested in the French capital amid one of the worst waves of unrest in the country in recent years.

Police responded with tear gas and water cannons, closing down dozens of streets and subway stations to contain the riot.

DAY OF VIOLENCE
The “yellow vest” movement — led by protesters wearing the distinctively coloured roadside safety vests used by motorists — is bringing together people from across the political spectrum complaining about France’s economic inequalities and waning spending power.

More protests took place at the start of this week in Paris, as dozens of ambulances blocked a bridge leading to the National Assembly. Lines of riot police stood in the rain to prevent them from getting too close to the building.

The paramedics who joined the demonstrations are complaining about changes to working conditions. Students opposing education reforms also joined in, blocking dozens of high schools across France, according to French media reports.

Clashes between protesters and police officers took place on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where demonstrations have been particularly violent in recent weeks.

President Macron, who has returned from the G20 summit in Argentina, held an emergency meeting on security. The government hasn’t ruled out the possibility of imposing a state of emergency.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said the crisis has forced Macron to postpone a visit to Belgrade that would have started Wednesday “for a couple of weeks.”

“We were preparing for President Macron’s visit. Unfortunately due to the situation and the problems he faces, President Macron asked me to postpone his visit to our country for a few weeks,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a televised press conference.

Mr Macron would have been the first French head of state to visit Serbia since Jacques Chirac in 2001.

He was scheduled to meet with Serbian President Vucic on Wednesday evening and pay tribute to a cemetery for fallen World War I soldiers on Thursday before returning to Paris.

Last month, Mr Vucic expressed disappointment over his placement during France’s World War I cemetery commemorations at which Kosovo’s leader was standing closer to other global dignitaries.

Serbia refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo, its former province, and has sought to block it from international organisations, including the UN.

Macron later penned a letter to Vucic, thanking the Serbian leader for joining the event and confirming the December 5-6 visit.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe earlier cancelled a scheduled trip to Poland in order to meet the heads of the main opposition parties on Monday.

The weekend rioting was the third straight weekend of clashes in Paris.

PROTEST FUELLED BY DIESEL COSTS
The protests began last month with motorists upset over a fuel tax increase and have grown to include a range of complaints that Macron’s government doesn’t care about the problems of ordinary people.

Critics say his business policies are tilted in favour of the rich. Other protests in France remained peaceful.

By the weekend’s end, some of the most popular tourist streets in Paris were littered with torched cars and broken glass from looted shops, and the Arc de Triomphe monument was defaced by graffiti.

During the protest by paramedics, some demonstrators set fire to a small pile of debris and blocked traffic. One activist held up a sign reading “The State killed me,” and others chanted “Macron resign!”

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and President Macron have been criticised for their handling of the crisis. After meeting with the prime minister, Socialist leader Olivier Faure urged Philippe to drop the tax increases and to restore a wealth tax that was slashed by the centrist government.

“We want a change in the method. One needs to come down from Mount Olympus,” Faure said, a reference to Mr Macron’s nickname of Jupiter, from the ancient Roman god.

Laurent Wauquiez, head of centre-right Les Republicains party, urged Macron to hold a referendum to end the crisis, although he didn’t say what its topic should be.

“French people need to be heard again, and for that we must organise a referendum to decide these issues. Only these measures will restore calm,” Mr Wauquiez said.

Since the movement kicked off November 17, three people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes or accidents stemming from the protests. In the past three weeks, demonstrators have been setting up roadblocks across the country and their movement has won wide public support.

Mr Philippe will try to defuse tensions before more possible protests this weekend, speaking with representatives of the yellow vest movement today.

Members of the National Assembly will also hold talks on the crisis later this week. Meanwhile, the trade union CGT has called for a day of protest across France on December 14.

MR PRESIDENT, WE NEED A RESPONSE
Mr Macron’s task now is also complicated by his own desire not to yield to France’s street protests, which in the past have repeatedly forced his predecessors into U-turns.

Jacline Mouraud, one of the protest movement’s prime instigators, told AFP that scrapping the fuel tax was a “prerequisite for any discussion” with the government.

“Mr President, we need a response,” demanded the front-page headline of Le Parisien newspaper on Monday.

“Swamped” read the headline of left-leaning Liberation newspaper which said the government seemed “paralysed by the yellow vest movement that it can’t stop and that risks boiling over”.

Deputy interior minister Laurent Nunez said that emergency measures were “one option among others,” but he said it was “not on the table for now”.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said that solution for tackling low purchasing power for struggling families lay in reducing the tax burden in France, which is among the highest in Europe.

“We must speed up the reduction of taxes,” he said. “But for that we must speed up the decrease in public spending.”

NEGATIVE IMPACT ON FRENCH ECONOMY
France’s finance minister warned that the violent protests and road blockades will have a negative impact on the economy.

The movement is hurting sales, according to Mr Le Maire, who said at the ministry that “the impact on the French economy was serious” and that some sectors have reported sales declines of between 15 to 25 per cent.

But Germany’s foreign minister says his country isn’t worried about the anti-government protests in neighbouring France, and he’s confident the situation will calm down soon.

Germany and France have traditionally been the European Union’s leading powers.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that “France is needed in Europe, and we know that focusing on such disputes in a country of course consumes energy, but that is completely normal.”

Mr Maas said that “France is known for its special protest culture, and I think we’re seeing that now, but from all that I hear and what is planned in the way of talks, we are confident that the situation there will calm down in the foreseeable future.”