Europe: how to respond to the protests?
School pupils and university students are taking to the streets in France, and protesters rioted and looted businesses in Milan, prompting Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to deploy troops to the city. High rents, social inequality and a lack of prospects are fuelling discontent. Commentators look at whether politicians should crack down further or introduce reforms to address the problems of the younger generation.
Policies favour companies, not people
EU leaders are still turning a blind eye to the problems at hand, criticises the taz:
“Their summit in Brussels last week was yet another striking example of the same old phenomenon. Under pressure from Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the leaders addressed the issue of competitiveness – but not the dire state of the social welfare system and education. ... Yet what needs to be done is obvious: the EU must prioritise affordable rents, energy, and education, rather than pushing ahead with liberal reforms. Some tentative steps have already been taken, for instance on the housing market. But that is nowhere near enough. As long as the EU focuses its summits on companies rather than on people, nothing will change.”
Protecting wealth at gunpoint
La Stampa criticises Giorgia Meloni's deployment of soldiers in Milan:
“The decision to respond to the youth gangs that have been looting Milan by militarising the city was to be expected, and perhaps inevitable. It stems from that instinct for order which has governed the actions of the right ever since it moved into Palazzo Chigi. ... This paints a picture of what our cities – and Milan in particular – will look like in the future: shoe and clothing shops guarded by soldiers with submachine guns. We tend to associate such scenarios with the affluent neighbourhoods of Mexico City or Bogotá, or with the areas around the large hotels in the capital cities of Africa: places where social inequality is so extreme that wealth can only be protected at gunpoint.”
Look beyond the flames
Writing in LRT, social scientist Skirmantas Bikelis denies that the protests in Europe are a sign of social decline:
“Anyone who sees only the flames and the masked rioters without engaging with the messages, context and causes of the protests won't gain any profound insights. ... It is absurd to view the protests in France through the lens of 'hatred of Western culture'. After all, violent protests have been part of France's political culture since at least the storming of the Bastille in 1789. ... Yet there is no denying that a heavy-handed approach, barbed wire and a narrow-minded authoritarian mentality are also part of Europe's political culture.”
Gen Z wants what their parents had
If young people are protesting, it is because they won't be able to afford the things their parents took for granted, writes Kapital:
“Their parents grew up at a time when there was hardly any entertainment but a high standard of living was within reach. They had a television, a record they'd saved up for, a telephone in the hall and a holiday once a year. With their salaries, they were able to buy a flat, the flat became an asset, and the asset became a pension. Capitalism was a ladder, and millions climbed it. Their children are experiencing the exact opposite. ... A home, a family, security and a stake in the economy have become luxuries. Generation Z can look at everything, but owns almost nothing.”