Weekend routines across major European capitals now involve businesses boarding up windows ahead of student-led protests, The Globe and Mail reported.
The Great Continental Divide
This unrest reveals a stark split inside the European Union. While streets in Paris, Madrid, Milan, Frankfurt, and Athens burn with anger, Eastern European capitals remain entirely calm.
This is a tale of two Europes. Unrest grows across “Old Europe,” the founding member states, while “New Europe,” the post-2004 former Communist bloc, looks on in quiet confusion.
Some western protesters argue the EU has failed to prioritize human dignity. The disappointment hits hardest in Germany and France, the bloc’s most populous and prosperous economies.
Pressure on Old Europe
Demonstrations have remained largely peaceful, though frequently marred by looting, vandalism, and clashes with police. France saw continued unrest over the weekend, while German protesters took a one-week hiatus ahead of planned demonstrations on Nov. 14, The Globe and Mail reported.
The spreading movement stems from deep hopelessness among Generation Z. Student protesters and trade union allies represent a left-wing backlash against national politics tilting rapidly toward the far right.
Marine Le Pen is on track to win the French presidency next year. Meanwhile, the nativist Alternative for Germany continues accumulating power in Berlin.
“It’s the new normal,” said Kayhan Erturen, who manages House of Creed luxury perfume shops in Germany. Workers removed plywood shields on Nov. 2 in Berlin after protests reached the capital, The Globe and Mail reported.
The economically stagnant western half of the continent faces a severe cost-of-living crisis. Analysts attribute this pressure to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising energy prices, and tariffs of 10 to 25 per cent imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rising Costs and AI Reshape Student Political Views
Students feel the price pinch hardest, compounding anxieties over artificial intelligence reshaping the job market. Lina Friedrich, a spokesperson for Gen Z Takes Charge, stated that young people are fed up with ignored concerns regarding climate change and Gaza, alongside shrinking education budgets and surging military spending.
“I am sure that we will not stop protesting until something changes,” Ms. Friedrich said.
This anxiety radicalizes political choices. An Ipsos poll from September showed 41 per cent of French voters under 25 backing far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while 20 per cent support Ms. Le Pen. In Germany, the AfD won 19 per cent of the youth vote last year, tripling its prior share, while 25 per cent voted for Die Linke.
“Young people are fed up with the mainstream and fed up with the big parties,” said Maria Skora, a policy fellow at Das Progressive Zentrum.
Citizens in Old Europe are watching the erosion of social welfare systems they relied on for decades. Johannes Thimm of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs noted that western citizens have low tolerance for welfare reductions.
“The EU is a tool of the rich,” said Tamino Wilck, a 22-year-old Humboldt University student who traveled to Paris for Oct. 24 protests and joined Berlin demonstrations.
Calm Across the East
In contrast, youth anger is dulled in Eastern Europe by steady economic growth. Brussels directs funding to 15 member states with gross national incomes below 90 per cent of the EU average, helping eastern nations close the standard-of-living gap.
Young Eastern Europeans see the EU as beneficial for travel, work, and raising labor and environmental standards. Increased military spending is urgent near the Ukrainian border.
In Zagreb, Croatia, students view western protests with perplexity. Gordan Kagic, acting president of the University of Zagreb students’ union, noted that eastern students always wanted exchange programs in the west, finding western dissatisfaction ironic.
Dragan Bagic, a sociology professor at the University of Zagreb, explained that while eastern students share housing and AI concerns, their lives are tangibly improving. Croatia’s GDP per capita rose from 61 per cent of the EU average in 2013 to 78 per cent today, while unemployment fell to 5 per cent.
“The current situation in the labour market in Croatia is the best in 40 years,” Prof. Bagic said.
Eastern calm faces a test on Nov. 20, when small left-wing groups plan to join a Europe-wide student strike featuring blockades and occupations. Whether leaders will heed student demands before unrest spreads eastward remains the open question.
