Iran issues travel advisory to citizens over protest-hit France

Tuesday, 10 December 2019 2:06 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 December 2019 2:44 PM ]

Protestors wearing yellow vests hold a French flag during a demonstration against French government's pension reform plans in Paris as part of a second day of national strike and protests in France, on December 10, 2019. (Photo by Reuters)

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has “seriously advised” citizens intending to visit France to rearrange their trips as the European country is grappling with a hardening nationwide strike and transport standstill over the Paris government’s planned pension reforms.

“Given the continued popular protests in the French Republic during the past year and in view of the general strikes in the past two days, which were accompanied by violence in the country’s different cities, particularly Paris, Iranian travelers and tourists are seriously advised to postpone their travel plan to the French Republic to another time in order to protect their security and health,” the ministry said in a travel warning on Tuesday.

Public sector workers marched peacefully through cities across France on Tuesday, heeding a call by trade unions to stage one of the biggest protests to hit France in decades.

The nationwide strike — the largest since 1995 — began on Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to overhaul the pension system that would see workers retiring later or facing reduced payouts.

The strikes have paralyzed the transportation system across France, with trains at a virtual halt, some flights grounded, 10 lines of the Paris metro closed and more than 180 miles (300km) of traffic jams on roads around Paris by 7 a.m. local time (0600 GMT).

Commuters wait on a platform at the Gare du Nord RER station in Paris, France, December 10, 2019. (Photo by Reuters)

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe reiterated his determination on Sunday to continue with the implementation of the plan despite opposition from unions in the European country.

Unions say the new system will introduce a “points system” for retirement, which will have a significant impact on both the public and private sectors, and will force them to work well beyond the official retirement age of 62.

Vehicles run on the Paris’ ring road, the “Peripherique”, on December 9, 2019 in Porte de Vincennes in Paris, during a strike of Paris public transports over planned pension reforms. (Photo by AFP)

The European country is bracing for even more industrial action in the days to come as the standoff between the unions and the government shows no sign of abating.

This is while President Macron is already faced with a major challenge to his rule from “Yellow Vest” protesters, who have been holding weekly demonstrations for more than a year.

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