Student-led protests in Serbia resulted in the removal of President Aleksandar Vucic from power. Serbia held a snap election following a protest movement that lacked a central leader.
Thousands of young people marched through the streets of Rome and Milan. In Albania, student-led demonstrations took place in Tirana against the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Xyke Kurti stated, "Our Prime Minister spent 130 days not listening to us." In 2025, 92.7 million people in the EU faced the risk of poverty or social exclusion.
The highest risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU in 2025 was recorded for young adults aged 18 to 24 at 26.3%. In France, people over 60 own 60% of the country's wealth, according to the OFCE think tank.
French pensions are on track to reach 14% of economic output. The OECD reports that Greece and Italy spend around 16% of GDP on public pensions.
Australia, Chile, Iceland, Ireland, and South Korea spent less than 4% of GDP on public pensions, according to the OECD. A French government report in October stated pension spending rose by 2.5 percentage points of GDP between 2000 and 2023.
Education spending declined by 0.5 percentage points of GDP between 2000 and 2023, according to the French government. The French government also stated that 32% of the education ministry's budget went towards pensions.
Students were evacuated last year when a roof collapsed in a school courtyard north of Paris. Maya Gourdel said, "We tried to do it passively. Nobody heard us. It's only when people started to burn trash or that kind of stuff that the media and cameras started showing us."
Gen Z protests occurred in Bangladesh in 2024 and Nepal in 2025. Police fired stun grenades and water cannons during protests in France.
Thousands of shops in France were damaged or looted in recent weeks.
