Student protests spread across nine European countries

Protests involving thousands of demonstrators have taken place in cities across France, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Serbia, and Albania over the past month. The movement spans more than 1,000 miles of the continent and has drawn attention to issues such as education funding, housing costs, and social inequality. While many marches began peacefully, several ended with clashes between police and crowds.

In Madrid, a camp of tents has occupied a city center square since late September. In Lisbon, tens of thousands of mostly young people marched earlier this month. In Brussels, police used tear gas and water cannons after protesters threw rocks and firecrackers. In Albania, demonstrators are demanding that Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has been in power for 13 years, resign over allegations of government corruption.

The demonstrations are frequently organized through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Belgium’s interior minister described this trend as the TikTokisation of protests. Student unions also play a role in coordinating marches, but participants often cite inspiration from peers in other countries. In Barcelona, students used the hashtag #InstitutsIndignats, echoing a French slogan used in late September when the current wave of student protests began in that country.

Young people cite stagnant wages and high living costs as primary drivers of the unrest. In Lisbon, Carolina Cruz, a 26-year-old PhD student, told Reuters she faces losing her home as her rental contract expires. She noted that despite completing a doctoral program, she still struggles to afford housing. In Milan, 22-year-old protester Riccardo told AFP that the goal is to force public conversation on these economic issues, even if the protests do not paralyze the city like they have in Spain.

Violence has accompanied many of the demonstrations. In Barcelona, more than half of those detained during clashes last weekend were under 18. Italy’s LaPresse news agency reported that minors were also among those arrested in Milan. Intelligence services in France and Belgium described looting on the edges of legal protests as opportunistic. They suggested that some rioting was orchestrated by ultra-left radical groups, a claim supported by Spanish authorities in Barcelona.

Governments are responding with a mix of concessions and crackdowns. Italy and France have promised to impose a you break it, you pay for it policy for rioters. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is making parents liable for damage caused by their children, including deducting welfare support. France’s Civil Code already holds parents living with their children liable for damage they cause. Thousands of arrests have been reported across the continent in recent days.

Political analysts view the unrest as a symptom of overlapping crises. Mark Leonard, director of the European Council of Foreign Relations, said the current anger stems from unresolved issues dating back to the 2007-8 financial crisis, the 2015 migrant crisis, and the inflation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He noted that social media algorithms have hardened perspectives among different groups, creating a sense of polarization where each group believes its crisis is more important than others.

Nathalie Tocci, a politics professor at Johns Hopkins University, cautioned against viewing the protests as a break from the past. She pointed to the student-led movement in Serbia, which recently defeated long-standing leader Aleksandar Vucic in parliamentary elections. That movement lasted for more than two years. Tocci said young people are politically engaged, just in a more grassroots way, similar to the Fridays for the Future environmental movement. Fresh mass demonstrations are planned in France and Italy in the coming days.