President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that France needed a "return to authority at every level" in response to recent riots sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenage driver.
The killing of Nahel M., 17, during a traffic stop last month prompted protests, riots and looting, with many accusing the government of allowing a culture of institutional racism in the police force to fester.
Condemning "the burning of schools, city halls, gyms and libraries", Macron said: "The lesson I draw from this is order, order, order."
Speaking on French television during a trip to the overseas French territory of New Caledonia, Macron said that "order must prevail", adding: "There is no freedom without order."
"Our country needs a return to authority at every level, starting with the family," Macron said.
The president also reiterated his previous criticism of the role of social networks during the riots and looting, saying "public digital order" was needed "to stop excesses".
Macron sparked outrage earlier this month with calls to "cut off" social media amid widespread unrest.
He said many young people used social media to organise meetups and riots.
Macron went on to say more investment must be made in providing youth with alternatives to protesting and fomenting unrest.
"We must invest massively in our youth to provide them with a framework," he said.
Of the around 1,300 people being prosecuted for their alleged role in the riots, nearly half are under 18.
The most intense urban violence since 2005 sparked a debate about law and order, immigration, racism and police brutality.
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Following a reshuffle of his cabinet, Macron warned last week that the riots had highlighted "a risk of fragmentation, of deep division of the nation".
There is a "need for authority and respect", he told Friday's cabinet meeting, and asked the new government "to draw the lessons from what happened, and provide sound answers".
New Caledonia is the first stop of Macron's Pacific trip which also includes Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and during which he is expected to lay out a "French alternative" for a region marked by China-US tensions, his office said last week.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
