Washington and official Russian voices converge to attribute the violence in France to immigration.
- Donald Trump has thus stated: “France is on fire […] Immigration of people from a world that is entirely different, people driven by hatred, has destroyed this country once so great […] Close your borders and take back control before it is too late.”
- Vice President J.D. Vance, on the same track, added: “Western progressives imported the Third World into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They neglected fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility. They were told it would end like this, but they didn’t listen […] I pray that France, a beautiful country with wonderful people, ends this madness before more monuments burn.”
- As the midterm elections on November 3, which Republicans are poised to lose according to most polls, draw near, Texas Senator Ted Cruz also evokes a “cultural suicide” of Europe: “We must regard France as a preview of what awaits America if we do not put an end to this here. We fight to save our nation.”
- In Moscow, the Kremlin’s special envoy to Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, in a near word-for-word echo of White House remarks, speaks of “the suicide of Western civilization caused by migratory chaos.” In another post, referring to the war of aggression that Russia is waging in Ukraine, he states that “The West has fallen because it failed to discuss and correct costly mistakes in migration, energy, and the incentives to wage war.”
- This message fits the classic mold of Russian propaganda. But what this sequence reveals most of all is the growing convergence between Washington and the Kremlin in their political aims for Europe, as key electoral moments on the continent approach.
In Europe, while protests also unfolded in Italy, Portugal, and Belgium, the Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar reacted to the events in France by stating: “In witnessing this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, it may now be clear to everyone why Hungary adopts the hardest possible stance on migration.”
- Without naming France explicitly, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is gearing up for elections next year, also tied the riots to migration, adding that Poland would not repeat nor pay for the mistakes of other countries and would maintain its strict asylum policy.
- Far-right forces in Italy, led by Matteo Salvini (Lega), and in Spain, led by Santiago Abascal (Vox), see in it what Europe faces with “Islamo-leftism” and speak of “barbarians.” Salvini points to an alliance between left-wing extremists and Islamist fanatics as the number one danger.
- In Greece, the prime minister referenced the protests in France to highlight the situation at home: “When we see these images, we must make an explicit commitment: Greece will never return to eras of major social upheaval, to the time of populists who told us that they could, ‘with a law and an article,’ tear up memorandums, at a time when lies dominated public debate… While all European economies are tested by the cost of living, our country has budgetary space to support Greek households.”
- Athens indeed posted an overall budget surplus of 1.7% in 2025. Despite these statements, protests are still planned in the country for Wednesday to denounce the cost of living.
Elsewhere in the world, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, posted on X in French in which he compares his country’s experience to what France should do: “We overcame in one year a problem a hundred times more serious, without the resources that France has. France could achieve it in a week.”
Several countries also updated the travel information offered to their nationals traveling to France:
- The United States keeps France at Level Two ( heightened vigilance). The American embassy had issued a alert about demonstrations on October 16.
- Italy asks its nationals to report their presence in France and to avoid crowded areas. The Czech Republic says the security situation has deteriorated and, just like Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, recommends avoiding demonstrations. Austria issued guidance.
- Germany warns of possible riots in the coming days.
- Similarly, China calls its citizens traveling to France to “step up their security measures.”