About 4,000 students have rallied in Paris against the far-right National Front (FN) party, following its success in the European elections.
Smaller marches took place in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and outside the European parliament in Strasbourg.
Marie Le Pen’s National Front came first in last week’s European parliament elections, winning 25% of the French vote and 24 seats.
About 4,000 students have rallied in Paris against the far-right National Front party, following its success in the European elections (photo AFP)
The party is opposed to mass immigration, free trade and the euro.
In Paris, students shouted anti-right wing slogans and waved banners reading “No to the National Front”.
However, correspondents say the turnout is small compared with previous protests against the FN.
Following her party’s victory, leader Marine Le Pen said voters had demanded “only one type of politics – a politics of the French, for the French and with the French”.
She added that her party would put pressure on French President Francois Hollande and fight “crazy measures like votes for immigrants”.
Marie Le Pen is credited with detoxifying the image of the FN, which was previously seen as the pariah of French politics.
France’s National Front has come first in the country’s elections to the European Parliament according to exit polls in what PM Manuel Valls has declared a “political earthquake”.
Eurosceptic parties also made big gains in other European countries – also coming first in Denmark.
The centre-right EPP looked set to be the biggest bloc in parliament.
Marie Le Pen’s National Front has come first in France’s elections to the European Parliament
Turnout in the election was 43.1%, according to provisional European Parliament figures – up on last time.
That would be the first time turnout had not fallen since the previous election – but would only be an improvement of 0.1%.
In France, the National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen said after seeing exit polls: “Clearly we are in the lead.”
A statement by her party accused the French government of “massive fraud” and “industrial scale” vote-rigging, saying PM Manuel Valls had tried to prevent the National Front winning “by the most odious means”.
It said in many polling stations voters were given incorrect papers or did not get ballots that included the National Front.
The election is the biggest exercise in multi-national democracy in the world.
The 751 seats are allocated in proportion to each country’s population.
The vote will affect the lives of the EU’s 500 million citizens, and the chamber has much more power than it used to.
[youtube -d1UCVZHdOE 650]
