"Freedom Caravan" in France, Protesters on the doorstep of Paris amid a heavy security deployment

Thousands of opponents of the vaccination certificate, who came with convoys bearing the name "Freedom Caravan" from all over France, gathered at the gates of Paris with the intention of entering it, similar to the mobilization taking place in the capital of Canada. The police and gendarmerie forces intend to stop the convoys to prevent paralysis in the French capital.

Thousands of opponents of the vaccination certificate, who came in convoys bearing the name "The Caravan of Freedom" from all over France, gathered on Saturday morning at the gates of Paris, with the intention of entering it despite the ban issued by the authorities determined to prevent any paralysis in the French capital.

The police commission in Paris said that about 7,200 police and gendarmes "are deployed during the next three days to ensure respect for the ban on convoys of "cars and vehicles".

The city's police chief, Didier Lallmann, said he had created "temporary parking areas to put an end to the disruption and closure."

Armored gendarmes were also deployed on the streets of the capital for the first time since the "yellow vest" protests at the end of 2018.

Prime Minister Jan Castix promised not to be lenient with this protest movement.

"If they disrupt traffic and if they try to paralyze the capital, we must be firm," he said in a statement to France 2 television on Friday.

The protest movement, which includes opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron and participants in the "yellow vests", was formed along the lines of the mobilization that took place in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

Hundreds of cars, camper vans and pickup trucks from Lille, Strasbourg, Vimi (north) and Chateauborde (west) and others stopped Friday evening at the gates of Paris, according to a police source, stressing that none of these convoys entered the capital.

"Enormous size"

There was fatigue and tension in the lines of the convoy, which left from the region of Brittany (west) and stopped in the garage of a commercial center in the vicinity of Chartres, about 80 kilometers southwest of Paris, surrounded by gendarmerie elements.

French President Emmanuel Macron said: "We are all tired and weary from what we have been going through for two years. This boredom is expressed in different ways, such as psychological distraction for some and depression for others. We see very strong psychological suffering in young people and in the elderly as well. This boredom also translates into He got angry. I understand and understand that."

But he added, "I am calling for more calm."

On Friday afternoon, the police estimated the number of vehicles participating in the various convoys at about 3,300, and one of the convoy coordinators said that it was a movement of "a huge size."

And two months before the presidential elections in France, protesters are demanding the withdrawal of the vaccination certificate that allows those who have received the Corona vaccine to enter restaurants, cinemas and other public places that the government says it will cancel by April.

The protesters also have demands in terms of purchasing power and the cost of energy resources.

Those involved in the movement deny they intend to paralyze the capital and hope to increase their numbers on Saturday.