France is recovering from its worst rioting in years, and the unrest has not stayed within its borders. What began as student anger over an understaffed and overcrowded education system widened within weeks into a movement over affordability, perceived government inaction and a growing wealth divide. Over the weekend, police fired tear gas and fought running battles with black-clad rioters who set fires and broke into shops and government buildings. More than half a million people demonstrated across the country on Saturday.
How it spread
The first sparks were small. Protests stayed local through September 25. Then they moved quickly. Observers were surprised that the protests spread to another 700 schools, apparently without leaders or manifestos. By early October they had reached Belgium, and riots gripped Liège on October 7. In Italy, school occupations began in Turin and Rome under the slogan “Let’s do as in France.” Saturday’s unrest hit Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal.
Analysts caution against calling it a single movement. Alberto Alemanno of HEC Paris described it as several protests at once, with shared grievances in underfunded education, rising living costs and uncertain graduate prospects. Still, he said France is the epicentre and new hotspots could emerge.
The human cost
More than 6,500 people, most of them minors, have been arrested since the protests began in France. The government is weighing tougher measures. French officials are exploring curfews, and President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to hold accountable those who “sought to bring down the Republic.” Macron promised a “hard line” in a televised address on Sunday, even as tensions flared in Paris.
Why the timing matters: empty public purses
Governments facing angry streets have little room to respond with money. France and Belgium are each running budget deficits above 5% of GDP this year, and Austria’s is above 4%, according to European Commission forecasts. Demands for more school funding and cost-of-living relief would require spending that cash-strapped governments can scarcely afford, and that is before the defence bills described below.
A war still going
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now in its fifth year. The war has entered a fifth year with few signs that it will end. Moscow shows no sign of lowering its military commitment. SIPRI estimates actual Russian military spending in 2026 could reach about €180 billion. For Europe, sustaining Ukraine and rearming at the same time means competing claims on budgets that protesters now say are failing them at home.
A senior ally stepping back
The security picture has also shifted. The Trump administration made clear from the outset that it expected Europe to take on more responsibility for its own defence. Ahead of last year’s NATO summit, Trump urged members to raise the spending pledge from 2% to 5% of GDP, and all but Spain agreed to spend 3.5% on regular defence and 1.5% on security-related measures. The Munich Security Report called for stronger civil preparedness and coordinated measures against Russia’s intensifying hybrid campaign. Rising defence outlays on one side and unrest over living costs on the other put governments in a tight squeeze.
The US response to the French riots has been political rather than supportive. Vice President JD Vance posted a video of the burning Limoges town hall on X and blamed the unrest on failed immigration policy. That is a claim made by Vance. The protests themselves began over schools and living costs.
The political fallout
The unrest lands on a crowded electoral calendar. Elections will be held in at least half a dozen European countries next year, and Alemanno said votes are scheduled in Spain, France, Italy and Poland, with the protests inevitably at the centre of the political conversation. Investors and officials fear repeat action in a campaign featuring both the far left and far right.
Analysts see an opening for the French far right. As in 1968, hostility over disruption and property damage could turn sympathy for the students into backlash, and The Conversation argues the riots may prove a gift for Marine Le Pen’s party. Divisions between students and unions are also possible.
What to watch
Three things will shape whether this fades or deepens. First, whether violence continues to eclipse the original demands, which would favour harder-line parties. Second, whether other governments, already running large deficits, can offer concessions on schools and prices without breaking their budgets or their defence pledges. Third, whether the protests stay uncoordinated, which makes them hard to negotiate with and harder to predict.
History offers no firm guide. It is impossible to know just where the protests might lead, and perhaps they will continue to spread through Europe. What is clear is that Europe is facing this test while fighting a war on its doorstep, adjusting to a less certain American commitment, and running short of money.