Macron pulls out of Davos to deal with street protests

Around 80,000 police officers will be mobilised for Saturday's round of national protests. Keystone

French President Emmanuel Macron will not attend the annual general meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in order reach a compromise with protesters in France. 

A busy schedule, including resolving the impasse with street protesters, was given as a reason for the decision by the Elysée on Friday. 

The “Gilets Jaunes” or Yellow Vests movement began in December against an increase in fuel tax and has seen thousands of people taking to the streets, protesting against the rise in cost of living. The protesters want a repeal of the fuel tax, as well as better economic conditions via higher taxation of the wealthy. Many have also called for Macron to step down as president. 

Some of these protests have been violent and the authorities have had to deploy an unprecedented number of police for crowd control. 

While his Davos plans have been cancelled, Macron will be attending the annual “Choose France” summit in Versailles on January 21. 

Macron’s no-show is another blow for the WEF after US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he would not be attending due to an impasse with the Democrats over the construction of a wall along the country’s border with Mexico.