French President Emmanuel Macron likened images of the rioting on the Champs Elysees at the weekend to “war scenes” on Monday, as dozens of protesters appeared in court over the violence.

Barricades were set on fire, luxury shop windows smashed, and traffic lights uprooted on the celebrated avenue in Paris at the weekend as violent groups infiltrated much larger anti-government protests nationwide.

Police fired over 5000 tear gas grenades — more than one a minute — on the capital’s most famous boulevard and firefighters put out over 100 fires, leading to spectacular images that were published worldwide.

“One shouldn’t underestimate the shock to people, in France and abroad, of seeing in the media what looked like war scenes,” Macron was quoted as saying during a cabinet meeting.

The president, who is to address the nation tonight, also criticised elected officials and opinion-makers for defending “vandals” who orchestrated the violence, spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said.

‘UNCOMPROMISING STANCE’
Macron’s government vowed on Monday an “uncompromising” stance toward troublemakers who use protests over rising fuel taxes to damage businesses and clash with police.

Pressure is mounting on Macron after a second weekend of sometimes violent demonstrations by angry drivers. He promised to explain his plans for weaning France off fossil fuels via small tax hikes that are at the heart of the protests.

The protests are a major challenge for Macron, drawing disparate demonstrators with no clear leader or mission but with a shared anger at what they perceive as his elitism.

Scattered actions continued overnight as drivers blocked roads from the Pyrenees to Brittany.

Tense clashes reached Paris’ high-end Champs Elysees, with store windows smashed and police firing volleys of tear gas and chasing troublemakers through streets filled with smoke from flares and bonfires.

The protests dominated a Cabinet meeting overnight, notably the question of how to “respect the anger,” according to government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux.

“At the same time, we must be uncompromising in the face of those who want to do damage.”

He warned that images of the weekend violence on the Champs Elysees could hurt France’s reputation abroad — and the foreign investment that Macron has tried to lure back to the French economy.

‘TURNING POINT’
A local protest leader in Toulouse, Benjamin Cauchy, said on Monday on BFM television that the movement is at a turning point and the next step will hinge on what Macron has to say.

Cauchy said protesters should respect the media, after journalists were attacked, chased or threatened while covering the weekend’s events.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is meeting today with businesses hit by the protests on the Champs Elysees and elsewhere.

Influential employers’ lobby Medef slammed the troublemakers and urged the government to help businesses hurt by the protests, notably in the tourism and retail sectors.

In a statement released overnight, Medef asked the government to immediately activate its so-called “economic continuity unit,” used in crises, which allows for exceptional tax breaks or other aid for struggling businesses.

Paris police said 27 people are facing court for the weekend’s violence in the capital, while 20 others arrested over the weekend were released. Two people were killed and hundreds injured in accidents stemming from the protests since they kicked off November 17, and hundreds of protesters and police have been injured.

POLITICAL DIVIDE
Many of France’s top opposition figures, particularly far-right leader Marine Le Pen, have encouraged the anti-government protesters who have swept France over the last nine days.

Nearly 300,000 people, wearing the yellow, high-visibility vests that have come to symbolise their movement, blockaded roads and blocked businesses on November 17 in largely spontaneous protest against higher taxes on diesel fuel.

On Saturday, around 100,000 turned out countrywide for a second day of protests that have morphed into a broad challenge to Macron’s pro-business policies.

Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin went as far as to say that those demonstrating “were not yellow jackets” but “the brown plague”, an allusion to the Nazis.

Meanwhile, the “yellow vests” announced that they were setting up an official eight-person delegation to negotiate with the government.

The protesters, who organised by way of social media and have rejected all political affiliation, have won wide public opinion support.

A poll last week showed around 70 per cent of people found the protests justified.