Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 2/10/2025; Author: Elma Murić
Political turmoil and protests in France in September 2025 were presented on Facebook with a dramatic, but fabricated, claim that the army had taken control of Paris.
On September 9, 2025, conspiracy theorist Vesna Ćurguz shared a post on her Facebook profile about political and social developments in France. The post stated that protests were echoing through the streets and that the country was deeply in debt. It also claimed that there were “calls to ‘paralyze’ the country next Wednesday” and that “many believe Macron is responsible for the current misery because he dissolved parliament in 2024”.
The post further stated:
France: The army has officially taken control of the capital, Paris.
At the time of writing this analysis, the post had been shared over 40 times on Facebook.
What Are the Facts?
The political crisis in France, as well as the large-scale civil protests in September 2025, drew global media attention. On September 4, Euronews reported that France’s political instability marked by the fall of its third government in just over a year, was “fueling fears of recession in the EU’s second-largest economy” and that France, with debt reaching 116% of GDP in 2025, was “indeed facing a serious financial crisis”.
At the beginning of last month, on September 8, Prime Minister François Bayrou, who had been in office since December 2024, lost a vote of confidence in parliament, further complicating the country’s political situation. The next day, President Emmanuel Macron appointed Sébastien Lecornu, then Minister of Defense, as the new prime minister.
In a detailed article on France’s ongoing political challenges published on September 9, CNN wrote that “the chaos can be traced back to Macron’s dramatic decision to call early elections last year”, adding that Lecornu was Macron’s fifth prime minister in just over two years.
Media outlets also pointed out that Macron’s sudden appointment of a new prime minister came just before mass protests organized by the “Block Everything” movement (Fr. Bloquons tout), scheduled for September 10. A week before the protests, France24 reported that the trigger for the widespread public dissatisfaction was (then) Prime Minister Bayrou’s 2026 financial plan, which included cutting the national budget by €43,8 million and introducing controversial measures such as eliminating two national holidays, freezing pensions, and reducing healthcare spending by €5 billion.
On the eve of the protests, AP reported that French authorities said they were preparing for possible sabotage and other acts of violence, as tens of thousands of demonstrators were expected to respond to the movement’s call. The article added that French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau stated that, alongside peaceful demonstrations, “there are other actions that could be far more intense blockades, possible acts of sabotage, acts that could be far more violent”, and that the “police response would be absolutely massive’, with 80.000 police officers and gendarmes deployed to maintain order, supported by helicopters, drones, and armored vehicles”.
The scale of public interest in the planned “Block Everything” protests and blockades was evident, as footage of the demonstrations circulated worldwide and was covered minute by minute by media outlets. Around 300 people were arrested during the protests, and Paris police used tear gas and prevented about 1.000 demonstrators from entering the Gare du Nord train station.
However, contrary to claims circulating on social media, no media reports mention that “the army took control of Paris” or any other French city in September 2025, or at any other time this year. There are also no indications that a state of emergency has been declared anywhere in France that would involve the suspension of civilian authority.
In addition to France’s internal political and social turmoil, the disputed Facebook post referenced the country’s current relations with Israel and Germany. It is true that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated that there would be “no place” for Macron in Israel if “Paris insists on recognizing the Palestinian state”. The post also claimed that “the Germans are threatening to withdraw from the fighter jet deal”, referring to disputes between manufacturers within the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project, which was also covered by regional media. However, these issues are in no way related to the fabricated claims that the French army is taking control of the country.
The false claims in the disputed post were spread by Vesna Ćurguz, who frequently shares various disinformation and conspiracy theories in the region (1, 2, 3, 4). According to the facts, we rate the claim that the army took control of Paris in September 2025 as fake news.
