[Anchor]

France, which has continued its nighttime curfew amid violent protests, has decided to deploy military forces for a large-scale protest scheduled for the weekend. Italy also announced it will deploy 500 military personnel to respond to violent protests.

[Reporter]

Downtown Paris, France, has been left in chaos following days of intense demonstrations and unrest that forced the closure of the Louvre Museum as crowds converged.

Admitting that it practically lost control of the city during last weekend's protests, the French government decided to deploy a massive security force, including military personnel, as organizers such as the "yellow vests" warned of a large-scale protest coming up on the 24th.

[Laurent Nunez / French Interior Minister: We will deploy the Sentinel (military counter-terrorism patrol operation) forces as replacement personnel for the internal security forces.]

The government is also taking a hardline stance by enforcing regional partial curfews for a second consecutive day, including imposing a nighttime curfew in and around the Place de la Republic in Paris.

[Sebastien Lecornu / French Prime Minister: Localized curfews are proving effective. And we will continue these measures for the coming days.]

Partial curfews were enforced overnight on the 20th local time in places like Paris and northern Lille, while southwestern Bordeaux and southern Nice announced they will maintain curfews for the next several days.

In Milan, Italy, where anti-government demonstrations have escalated into violent and looting protests, the government held an emergency meeting and decided to deploy 500 military personnel.

Measures to ban access to certain areas of the city center are also under review.

[Giorgia Meloni / Italian Prime Minister: These are scenes that cannot be minimized, justified, or tolerated under any circumstances. 500 additional soldiers will be deployed to Milan by the end of this year.]

As accumulated public grievance explodes amid chronic financial difficulties, shrinking welfare benefits, and skyrocketing fuel and living costs in the wake of the Middle East war, solutions remain elusive, suggesting that the wave of protests in Europe will not easily subside.

(Video Editing: Kim Byeongjik)