After more than two months of Yellow Vest protests against the economic policies of the French government, President Emmanuel Macron claimed that he too could be a ‘yellow vest’ if the movement stands for higher salaries. “If being a yellow vest means wanting fewer parliamentarians and work being paid better, I am a yellow vest, too!” Macron said on Thursday in an attempt to align with the grassroots movement against economic injustice, which was born as a protest against the French government’s policies. In an interview with several French journalists (BFM TV, Paris Match, Le Figaro) he described the Yellow Vests as a social and political movement without “a fixed claim and leader,” as well as saying that it has “mutated” since its inception and has been “infiltrated by 40,000 to 50,000 militants who want the destruction of institutions.” Macron also spoke about the RIC – the “Citizens’ Initiative Referendum” – a referendum demanded

Hundreds of women on Sunday marched in Paris to reclaim France's "yellow vest" movement from violent activists, a day after protesters smashed their way into a government ministry. The women, wearing yellow vests, turned out after 50,000 people returned to the streets of France on Saturday amid violent clashes with police. Some of the women waved yellow balloons and pushed prams. Protests were also held in other French cities. "All the media ever reports is the violence, and we are forgetting the root of the problem" which is the fight against austerity, said one protester, Karen, a 42-year-old nurse from Marseille. The women sang the "Marseillaise", France's national anthem, as they gathered on the steps of the city's opera house at Bastille before marching through nearby streets. The women's demonstrations came as Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire called for an end to the "yellow vest" unrest, saying "those who believe in democracy" should now say "that's enough",