Youth across Europe rally against soaring living costs and shrinking social spending
Students and young activists in France, Greece and other nations are taking to the streets to denounce rising living expenses and the prioritisation of defence budgets over social programmes.
Across Europe, from French classrooms to Greek city centres, young people are uniting around a common grievance: the unbearable cost of living combined with increasing military spending at the expense of social welfare. Recent demonstrations in Greece were sparked by what participants described as "unfair repression" of French and Albanian protesters, prompting calls for broader action. Trade unions, political collectives and anti-fascist networks have organised nationwide strikes, urging the government of Prime Minister Mitsotakis to reverse austerity measures.
Interviewed youths expressed frustration with a system that they feel silences dissent and favours the wealthy. Scholars such as Lucia Kotronaki and Serafim I. Sefereidis argue that the protests signal a deeper structural crisis in capitalism, warning that without organised resistance the political vacuum could be filled by the far right. The movement stresses the need for democratic structures within workplaces, universities and neighbourhoods to sustain its momentum.
Why it matters
The protests highlight growing youth discontent with economic inequality and could reshape political dynamics in Europe.
In this story
