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During the latter half of 2026, many mass protests movements have arisen in Western and Southern Europe. Demonstrations occurred in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Albania, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Serbia. A common motivation ascribed to the protests was the cost-of-living crisis.
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Since September 2026, mass protest movements arose in Western and Southern Europe. Major demonstrations are being held in Albania, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Spain, while Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland have experienced minor protests and strikes. A common motivation ascribed to the protests is the cost-of-living crisis. The protests have been largely led by young people, particularly Generation Z.
The protests unfolded in the face of rising unaffordability, poor working and educational conditions, and dissatisfaction with ruling governments. Several countries faced mounting pressure to rein in their deficits as higher borrowing costs made their debts more difficult to service. France and Belgium had budget deficits amounting to 5% of GDP.
Writing for Axios, Rebecca Falconer described the protests as not a single movement, but originating from a series of shared concerns relating to cost of living, educational standards, and general economical and political dissatisfaction. The Economist noted that the protests and riots were primarily about "the cost of living and poor public services" and that right-wing narratives attributing the unrest to immigration, Muslims, race, and religion were inaccurate. It noted that most protesters were citizens of their respective countries.
Protests erupted in Albania in late May 2026 in response to the planned development of a new resort on the ecologically protected Sazan Island. The development, which was to be undertaken by Jared Kushner, prompted major backlash, ushering in what became known as the Flamingo Revolution. Initially confined to concerns over the Sazan resort, the demonstrations grew to call for the resignation of incumbent prime minister Edi Rama who had been running the country since 2013. Throughout his thirteen years in power, Rama faced criticism for alleged corruption, misuse of public funds, and favoritism.
A new wave of demonstrations began on 13 October, when students began protesting over higher educational costs, a lack of financial aid, conditions at universities, and future job prospects. Protesters clashed with the riot police who employed tear gas and other riot weaponry.
Thousands of people gathered in Tirana on 24 October for another anti-government demonstration. Police used tear gas against protesters, and government buildings were attacked. Authorities reported that more than 300 protesters and police officers had been injured.
On 22 October 2026, thousands of people demonstrated in Vienna at the call of the Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH), demanding increased funding for universities and opposing planned cuts to higher education and research. Organizers estimated the turnout at 20,000 while other estimates reached 30,000. The protests follow demonstrations organized by the ÖH and Universities Austria (uniko) in spring 2026, which attracted approximately 40,000 participants.
Demonstrators convened in Brussels and Liège on 17 October in response to the deteriorating conditions of schools and the increasing costs of education. In response, Belgian police launched tear gas and used water cannons, accusing the protesters of igniting fires and launching fireworks. Interior Minister of Belgium, Bernard Quintin, claimed on 17 October "what is unfolding in Brussels is no longer mere protest and all necessary means will be used to restore order in the face of the rioters."
In Liège, there was also a protest in response to the increasing costs of education and the difficulty in obtaining study materials.
During the night of 23–24 October 2026, protesters gathered near the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and at Malostranské Square in Prague to protest against abolishing the television licence system used to fund the public service media Czech Television and Czech Radio. Some of the protesters tried to storm the Chamber of Deputies while lawmakers were debating the bill overnight, but the police stopped them. Vít Rakušan, an opposition politician described this demonstration as the longest in Czech history, while Martin Kupka described it as "likely the longest demonstration in the modern history of the Czech Republic". PM Andrej Babiš compared the demonstration near the Chamber of Deputies to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. The protest lasted about 16 hours.
In the days that followed, protests took place in other cities, such as Olomouc, Liberec, Brno, České Budějovice and others. Happenings and protests also took place in smaller towns such as Humpolec, Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, and Jindřichův Hradec. On 25 October, thousands (according to some media outlets, tens of thousands) of people gathered on Old Town Square. Some of the protests are usually called "student protest".
On 3 November, staff at both public service broadcasters called a strike in response to political developments. Students from some schools also joined the strike. Prime minister Andrej Babiš stated that he acknowledged the strike and demonstrations, but the coalition plans were not changed.
The organization Milion chvilek pro demokracii (A Million Moments for Democracy) also called for a demonstration on Sunday, 15 November at Letná Plain.
In Denmark, 11 student associations planned a demonstration in Copenhagen for 4 November 2026 to protest proposed cuts to state-funded student grants. Organizers expected around 10,000 people to take part, but some media outlets reported up to 30,000 protesters. The demonstration was set to start at City Hall Square and then head to the Danish Parliament.
Demonstrations and protests against poor economic and school conditions by workers and lycée (high school) students have taken place in France since September 2026. In early October, the protests developed into a nationwide mobilization involving students, teachers, parents, political organizations, the yellow vests and trade unions, with an estimated 575,000–1.57 million people participating nationwide.
Protesters were met with heavy-handed police reactions, being attacked with tear gas, batons, stun grenades, and rubber bullets. A 16‑year-old‑girl lost vision in her eye after being shot by a rubber bullet. The left hand of a 15‑year‑old boy was blown off by a stun grenade. A 14-year-old student suffered a smashed jaw and the loss of his upper teeth after a police officer shot him at point blank range with a tear gas canister, allegedly leaving him on the ground without calling emergency services. The family of the student filed a complaint for attempted murder. In addition to cases of physical brutality, French police have been accused of using racial insults, disproportionately targeting minority students, and committing sexual assault. Over 6,700 minors had been arrested by 23 October.
On 17 October, fuel protesters and workers mobilized and joined with student protesters, expanding the protests to nearly one million people. Many monuments were vandalized, including the Monument à la République in Paris. The Hôtel de Ville, a Monument historique in Limoge, was severely damaged by arson.
On 5 December 2025, the Bundestag voted for a law aiming to modernize the Bundeswehr, which, from 2026 on, included the model of a "new conscription", which obliged all men aged 18 to answer a digital questionnaire. This led to fears of a re-establishment of compulsory conscription in Germany, sparking school strikes across hundreds of German cities. According to the organizers up to 40,000 students joined the demonstrations. The school strikes are supported by student councils and unions, trade unions, peace organizations, churches and various groups of the political left against conscription and militarization through demonstrations and school strikes.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the centre-right CDU, who took office in May 2025, saw his and his party's popularity steeply declining since April 2026. Elections in September in the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin as well as public opinion polling for the 2029 federal election saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gain unprecedented traction, while left-wing The Left won the Berlin election in the same month. Merz's ambition to enforce a disputed reform package by the end of 2026 led to a rift with ruling "Grand Coalition" partner SPD and resulted in additional nationwide protests, albeit of mostly peaceful nature.
On 31 October, during the third weekend of protests in France, demonstrations were also held in Germany. German police said they had arrested more than 200 people after violent clashes in several cities on Saturday night, with some cases of looting and attacks on police officers. The police offering included Bereitschaftspolizei (riot police), arrest units and water cannons. In Frankfurt, the paramilitary Spezialeinsatzkommando was also deployed to disperse the protests. The clashes came after largely peaceful "Gen Z" demonstrations in more than 30 German cities, where tens of thousands of young people had gathered to call for higher education funding and relief from rising living costs, and to oppose plans to reintroduce compulsory military service. Germany's Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, condemned the riots, saying "violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from the migrant milieu" had hijacked the peaceful demonstrations that had taken place during the afternoon. He praised the police's operational concept of "massive presence and decentralized deployment" as having prevented further excess of violence.
Protests in Germany were coordinated by the organization "Gen Z regelt" (Gen Z handles), which is headed by an individual named Akram Selo. After the 31 October protests, the organization posted "This was just the beginning", calling for recurring demonstrations with 20 November set as the next date.
On 13 October, Greek students began protests in the Syntagma Square of Athens, which were centered around the issues of unaffordable prices of living for students, mainly in terms of student housing. Additionally, protesters brought up complaints of the lack of funding for the public education system. Demonstrators erected tents outside of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance and the Hellenic Parliament, mainly as a blockade, but, according to the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the tents are also a comment about the condition of housing in Greece. The organizers said that the tents were planned to stand for the following two days, and then a protest concert would be held the following week on 20 October.
Additionally, the Communist Party of Greece supported the protests.
On 1 October, more than 1,500 students marched in Dublin to protest the effects of cost of living and student fees. The event was organized by the Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn, the national students' union for Irish higher education, and was largely peaceful.
On 14 October, 300,000 public sector workers went on a general strike as part of a pay dispute between workers and the government. The strike was supported by large unions such as Fórsa and SIPTU. On the 2 November, another strike was announced for the 12 November due to delays in agreeing a new pay deal. This coincided with a meeting of European Leaders but was called off after last minute negotiations.
On 16 October, Italian students in major cities like Milan, Turin, Bologna, Genoa, Verona, Rome, and Bari started protesting, inspired by their French counterparts. The mobilization was denominated "No Meloni Day". Demonstrators protested against the conditions of Italian educational facilities, against the measures adopted by the government to limit the number of foreign students in classrooms, and demanded that the government spend more on education and less on weapons.
In Rome, demonstrators threw firecrackers and cherry bombs in front of the Ministry of Education, calling for Giuseppe Valditara, the Italian Minister of Education, and asking him to "get out of the building". During the second day of the protest, 17 October, in Milan, Turin, and Bologna, small riots split off from the protests, which had developed to encompass general social and economic discontent. Milan saw increased rioting, with many luxury storefronts reportedly looted.
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