Youth Unrest Toppled Serbian Leader and Sparked Europe Wide Protests

Young people across Europe have staged a coordinated wave of protests that resulted in the election victory of opposition candidates in Serbia and the damage of thousands of shops in France.

The demonstrations, driven largely by Generation Z, focus on crumbling infrastructure, high living costs, and perceived political stagnation. In Serbia, student-led actions against Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic lasted nearly two years before his defeat in a recent election. In France, police deployed stun grenades and water cannons as crowds looted and damaged retail spaces in the weeks leading up to October 28.

Protesters cite specific local failures that mirror a continent wide trend. In Milan, Chiara, a 21 year old student, described schools with insufficient teachers and dilapidated buildings that push graduates into low paid jobs far from home. In a suburb north of Paris, 17 year old Bilal Narjissi reported staff shortages and a rat infestation at his school, noting that a roof collapse forced an evacuation last year without injury. In Tirana, architecture student Xyke Kurti accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of ignoring student demands for 130 days, a sentiment that has sparked protests in multiple Albanian cities.

Economic data supports the grievances expressed by demonstrators. A 2025 European Union survey found that 40% of people aged 16 to 30 worry about rising prices. Youth poverty risk remains high, with 26.3% of those aged 18 to 24 at risk of social exclusion, compared to 18.8% of adults over 65. In France, the OFCE think tank reported that citizens over 60 hold 60% of the country's wealth despite comprising only a quarter of the population.

Budgetary priorities further fuel resentment among younger voters. A French government report stated that pension spending rose by 2.5 percentage points of GDP between 2000 and 2023, while education spending fell by 0.5 points. Currently, 32% of the education ministry's budget is allocated to pensions, which are projected to reach 14% of economic output.

Maya Gourdel, a 19 year old student in Brussels, noted that media attention often followed only after demonstrations turned violent. "It's only when people started to burn trash or that kind of stuff that the media and cameras started showing us," she said. In Serbia, student Stasa Piletic expressed relief at the election result, saying, "I feel that we finally moved from protests to responsibility."

Protests continue in other regions, with a demonstration planned in Germany this weekend to address cost of living and school conditions. In Serbia, Luka Stojakovic dismissed concerns about inexperienced governance by saying, "We have seen where people with political experience have brought us."