France marks Armistice Day : Macron attends commemorative ceremony

French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the last Armistice Day commemoration of his presidency. Earlier he rekindled the flame at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Today's ceremony honors those who died for France. This year's events come amidst a climate of discontent in this country and for more on all of this we can bring in our international affairs editor Angela Diffley. Angela great to see you. There are about five six months left in Emmanuel Macron's presidency but it's looking like a bleak Yeah, this commemoration takes place really amidst a feverish climate here in France. You know, there is regular violence on the streets at the moment. For the last five or six weeks, there have been some cost-of-living marches, often peaceful during the march, but usually hijacked. At the beginning or towards the end by anti-capitalist rioters, we have seen the school children, so that's 15 to 18 year olds on the whole in secondary school, the latter years of secondary school here in France, blocking schools and those students who want to go to class unable to do so. Again, those school blockades. Right down now to 1.4% of schools are being blocked from a high where it was quite a considerable number. There are very few now, but in those ones, the students doing it are particularly hardcore and militant. There has been some extreme violence, including yesterday, where an elected official was doused in petrol. And, you know, this has really led to an atmosphere of concern throughout France about, you know, wherein, How is the country going? How did this acceptance, toleration of a level of violence from young people come about? So that is the sort of background to what is happening today. You know... Emmanuel Macron, now his popularity is somewhere between 12 and 13 percent, not quite the lowest. I think François Hollande at one stage reached 11 percent, but he is fully aware that at the end of his presidency, his popularity rating is very, very low. You know, that is something which is behind all of what is happening today. A lot of people are furious about this recent social unrest. On the left, some people say that the demands of... Those marching for concerns over the cost of living should have been better met. Mm. And to a certain extent, the schoolchildren as well. Their demands should have been understood earlier. On the other hand, on the right, you have people who say there is a total loss of authority. The state does not seem able to impose itself on a lot of citizens. Now, commemorating... Events like Armistice Day, it's not always easy to separate, to take away the politics from it. How important is this day in France? Well, you know, compared to some other countries, it's worth noting here in France, it is a national holiday. The day off is given to all schoolchildren and most workers are not working today. That is important. There is not, however, the climax where, for example, in the United States, where it's quite common if you see a veteran to say thank you for your service, that is not the sort of vibe here in France at all. That said, the Army, which is a professional army, not a conscripted army, is highly respected for the work that it does. There has recently been, and you can see them in some of those pictures, in Britain people wear poppies to commemorate the 11th of November. red poppies, that has been very widespread for a very, very long time in France. That wasn't really a thing in France, but has taken hold recently. These blue cornflowers that people wear on their lapels. Again, it's still really people representing authority or the state. It's not widely worn by ordinary people. Maybe that will become something, or maybe it won't. You know, we'll see where that goes. In terms of... How today is commemorated here in France, you know, everything is political at the moment. We are less than six months away from a presidential election here in France. There has been a row over how it's commemorated in primary schools. Thank you. Wars were talked about in history lessons at primary school in the final year, but this year they have been asked to do a small ceremony to which local officials can be invited. Some of the unions said that is militarising it, it is politicising it. We are six months from election. Everything is political in France. And very briefly, the French president is not speaking today. No, it's not mandatory, if you like, but he has done in the past. You know, the flavour of this is very different. You know, there is no invited German president, as in the past there has sometimes been as well. The audience is invited. There is quite a low turnout of spectators as well. The mood is simply not lending itself to anything more than a sombre, respectful, fairly minimal... Commemoration of this day, no speech. Marine Le Pen is giving one, and perhaps Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Thank you very much for that, Angela. Angela, definitely there.