European Security Forces Arrest Hundreds as Protests Sweep Major Cities

European security forces arrested nearly 1,000 people on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched across France, Italy and Albania to protest rising living costs and public service cuts.

French authorities deployed 70,000 police officers nationwide after an estimated 410,000 people demonstrated in major cities, while trade unions estimated the turnout at 800,000 participants.

Governments across Europe mobilized extra police and military personnel to stop a resurgence of the violent looting and property destruction that damaged hundreds of businesses during similar rallies the previous weekend.

"Several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters," said Laurent Nunez, the French interior minister.

Riot police in Paris used batons, tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds after skirmishes broke out near the end of a march between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes.

French police stopped and checked more than 3,000 people in Paris alone, arresting 65 individuals in the capital while two people suffered serious injuries in Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand.

"France is right now burning down because it opens its borders to people who hate it," said Donald Trump, the United States president, during a campaign rally in Georgia.

In Italy, Premier Giorgia Meloni sent 500 additional soldiers to reinforce 5,000 police officers in Milan, where luxury fashion stores boarded up windows following earlier destruction.

Thousands of young demonstrators marched through Milan, Rome and Turin, with protesters in Milan dumping manure outside the national energy regulator and burning electricity bills to oppose rising expenses.

Italian police detained 371 people and arrested nine across eight cities on Saturday, while officials said that minors comprised a large share of violent demonstrators from the prior week.

In Albania, police deployed 2,500 officers in Tirana and fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets as student-led crowds threw rocks and fireworks at the agriculture ministry building.

The Albanian protests expanded from opposition to a luxury coastal development project into broader rallies against unemployment, corruption and poor education standards, leaving more than 300 people injured over recent days.

French and Italian authorities said they will remain on high alert through Sunday as investigators search for organizers behind the newly formed movements driving the demonstrations.