The president of France Emmanuel Macron denounced today Tuesday the “unacceptable” and “uncharacteristic” attack against a little niece of his wife Brigitte on the sidelines of a demonstration against the reform of the pension system. Brigitte Macron’s nephew was brutally beaten in Amiens in an incident on the sidelines of a protest against pension reform.

“These are unacceptable and unjustifiable actions,” Macron said upon his arrival at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik. “Violence has no place in democracy.” No form of violence is justified,” he clarified.

The First Lady of France Brigitte Macron she also earlier expressed her outrage at the “cowardice, stupidity and violence” of the perpetrators of last night’s brutal attack on her nephew.

“I stand in complete solidarity with my family,” she said in a statement sent to AFP. “I have repeatedly denounced this kind of violence that can only lead to the worst,” added the wife of President Emmanuel Macron.