France's May Day protests turn into political battlefield ahead of EU elections

euronews (in English)

Many left-wing contenders didn't miss the opportunity to attend the traditional May Day protest in Paris, while the far-right politician Jordan Bardella, currently leading the polls, announced the rest of his candidate list in southwestern France.

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00:00 In the streets of Paris, hundreds protested during the traditional May Day labor rights

00:05 demonstration. They chanted for higher salaries, peace in Palestine and against the upcoming

00:11 2024 Olympics. But with less than six weeks to go before the European elections in June,

00:17 the demonstration turned into a highly politicized one. Most left-wing candidates in the elections

00:23 were present in the French capital.

00:24 "For the European elections, it's always about purchasing power, but it's about acting on

00:31 energy bills. The first measure I want to put in place is the exit of France from the

00:38 European electricity market, in order to significantly reduce energy bills for companies, for agricultural

00:43 operators, for artisans and of course for all French people, because today we pay energy

00:48 well above the price we have for production."

00:49 Others emphasized the importance of protesting against the rise of the far-right in France,

00:54 which is currently leading the polls for the EU elections.

00:56 "May 1st is also an opportunity to remind that we will always fight, and we must always

01:00 fight against these anti-democratic, anti-republican parties that unfortunately are in our society."

01:07 Recent polls highlighted social issues, wages and the fight against inflation as a priority

01:13 for voters.

01:14 (crowd laughing)

01:16 (whooshing)

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