Youth rebellion and outbreaks of violence across Europe

French officials launched an investigation into the attempted murder of a police officer, while German the Minister of the Interior asked for strict punishments, after peaceful protests – which were mainly led by young people – turned into violence across Europe, writes “The Guardian”.

U Portugal the police – with the use of batons and service dogs – cleared the protest camps, while in Switzerland security forces attacked with stones that were taken from the sidewalk.

Protests over the state of the education system, the deterioration of public services, ever-diminishing life prospects, the lack of affordable housing, and the skyrocketing cost of living shook numerous countries this fall.

Francuska

Violence erupted in Paris on Saturday night, as well as in Marseille, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse, after about 320.000 protesters, some dressed in Halloween costumes, took to the streets.

When the rallies ended, masked and hooded rioters appeared, sparking what Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described as an “unusually” high level of violence. More than 770 people were arrested.

In Paris, the prosecutor’s office announced that incendiary substances were thrown at a group of about 15 gendarmes and policemen, and that an official investigation was launched into the “attempted murder of officials”.

Among the policemen’s injuries, there are allegedly also second-degree burns, which was recorded on a mobile phone video that spread on social networks and was broadcast on French television.

The level of physical violence and looting was significantly lower than on October 17, when 2.600 people were arrested and as many as 3.000 shops looted – one of the worst nights of urban unrest in recent French history.

 

Germany

In Germany, thieves and miscreants rampaged through Frankfurt, the country’s financial center, damaging shops and injuring more than 100 police officers.

“The miscreants and thieves will be identified and brought to justice,” said Aleksandar Dobrint, the minister of the interior known for his hard-line views. He specifically pointed to “violent left-wing groups and rioters from among the migrant community,” adding: “This violation of public order and peace must be sanctioned with severe penalties.”

Dobrint told the “Bild” tabloid that the deployment of a large number of police officers in several locations proved to be effective. “Excesses of violence, like those in Paris, have been prevented thanks to our very dedicated police force,” he said.

On Saturday, more than 100.000 demonstrators marched in more than 30 German cities, demanding better education and lower living costs, as part of protests led by the “Gen Z regelt” (“Gen Z will fix it”) campaign.

According to Roman Posek, Hesse’s provincial interior minister, hooded rioters damaged 17 stores in Frankfurt, looting five of them, and also threw various objects, including “Molotov cocktails.”

More than 100 of the 1.300 police officers deployed in the city were injured, and 54 suspects, aged between 13 and 29, were arrested. “I am shocked by what I saw and there is no point in embellishing the reality. Let me be very clear: it can’t be like this anymore,” Posek said.

Most of the arrested are German citizens, and the police estimated that they faced “between 1.000 and 1.500 violent rioters, who are predominantly of migrant origin.”

Violence erupted Saturday night in Cologne, where police used water cannons to disperse crowds, and in Berlin, where protesters attacked police with bottles and pyrotechnics.

The organization “Gen Z regelt” published a statement in which it dissociates itself from any form of violence.

Portugal, Albania and Switzerland

In Portugal, riot police forcibly removed protesters from Lisbon’s Rossio Square around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday after thousands of people, outraged by the housing crisis, marched through the city and set up camp on Saturday.

Protesters are demanding that the center-right minority government withdraw a bill that makes it easier to evict tenants and lift rent caps for new leases. A smaller camp in Porto was also forcibly cleared.

In Albania, masked protesters in Tirana threw stones and “Molotov cocktails” at the police. The incidents occurred on the sidelines of a protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama due to alleged corruption.

At the end of the protest, which was mostly peaceful, young people threw stones and “Molotov cocktails” at the police, and they also set trash cans on fire. The Ministry of the Interior announced on Friday that 350 people, including 200 policemen, were injured in the protests, while 269 minors were arrested.

In Switzerland, on Saturday evening, in Zurich and Basel, hundreds of people gathered for unsanctioned demonstrations under the slogan “In Switzerland, too, we have had enough of everything.” Both escalated into violence.

Swiss media reports that the police in Zurich used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rioters who threw pyrotechnics, bottles and stones at them. One police car was damaged, and trash cans and electric bicycles were set on fire.

In Basel, according to the police, around 21 pm, around 150 people gathered in the city center. Shop windows were broken, facades were covered with graffiti, and containers and bicycles were set on fire; incidents were also recorded in Geneva.

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