Maya Gourdel, a 19-year-old student in Brussels, sits at a desk writing slogans against those running her country: “If we burn, you burn with us!”
asserted
you → sit → us
The slogan, taken from the 2012 film "The Hunger Games" that has been adopted as a symbol by many youth movements globally, reflects the anger, frustration and desire for change driving Gen Z-led protests around Europe.
asserted
that → take → Europe
From the suburbs of Paris to the squares of Belgrade, thousands have taken to the streets.
asserted
thousands → take → streets
The demands are various but often overlapping – frustrations with shabby schooling facilities, perceived lack of economic opportunity, cost of living, corruption, housing and a sense of not being listened to.
asserted
demands → overlap → living
At times those protests triggered violence – with thousands of shops in France alone being damaged or looted in recent weeks – and police firing stun grenades and water cannons.
asserted
police → trigger → grenades
This weekend they also brought real change – student-led protests culminated in the toppling in an election of Serbia’s long-time leader Aleksandar Vucic after nearly two years of demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism.
asserted
protests → bring → corruption
“Waking up, the first thing we felt was certainly a sense of relief and freedom," said student protester Stasa Piletic.
asserted
Piletic → wake → relief
"Personally, I feel a sense of victory.
asserted
I → feel → victory
I feel that we finally moved from protests to responsibility."
asserted
we → feel → responsibility
Chiara, a 21-year-old student in protest-hit Milan, believes “it's vital to take part in people's spontaneous movements born from an explosion of rage that made collective action possible.”
asserted
action → hit → rage
"I think the worst damage this ruling class has done to my generation is stealing even the ability to imagine a future, to dream," she said.
asserted
she → think → future
She said Italian students were confronting a reality of schools without enough teachers and crumbling buildings.
asserted
students → say → teachers
“And all of this with the prospect of an underpaid job which we didn't qualify for and the prospect of living in a tiny, overpriced house, probably away from our city, which we didn't want to live in."
asserted
we → qualify → which
Protests led by Gen Z have caused ructions globally as the generation born roughly between 1997 and 2012 found its voice, from Bangladesh in 2024 and Nepal in 2025, to India this year.
asserted
generation → lead → India
Now Europe has become a focal point.
asserted
Europe → become → ?
Rising prices and the cost of living are a concern for 40% of 16-30-year-olds, according to a European Union survey published in 2025.
uncertain
prices → rise → 2025
Among the 92.7 million people in the EU who faced the risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025, the highest risk was recorded for young adults aged 18-24 years, at 26.3%, while the lowest was recorded for adults aged 65 years or over, at 18.8%.
asserted
lowest → face → %
Younger people are also wary of shouldering the financial burden of an older generation that tends to vote in greater numbers.
asserted
that → shoulder → numbers
People over 60 in France make up a quarter of the population but own 60% of France's wealth, according to the OFCE think tank.
uncertain
People → make → tank
French pensions are by far the biggest public expense, on track to reach 14% of economic output, as the population ages and voters resist raising the retirement age or reducing benefits.
asserted
voters → reach → benefits
That is still less than Greece or Italy, which spend the largest proportion of national income on public pensions among OECD countries, at around 16% of GDP, according to OECD figures in 2025.
uncertain
which → spend → 2025
But it is much more than Australia, Chile, Iceland, Ireland or South Korea, which spent less than 4% of GDP on public pensions, according to the OECD.
uncertain
which → spend → OECD
Bilal Narjissi, a 17-year-old high school student in a suburb north of Paris, has been protesting against “deplorable” conditions and staff shortages at his school.
asserted
Narjissi → protest → school
“There used to be rats,” he said.
asserted
he → use → ?
Students were evacuated last year when a roof collapsed on the courtyard, though no one was hurt, he said.
asserted
he → evacuate → courtyard
Protests showed “that young people in Europe are united”, he said, adding, "we all agree on one point: that young people are treated like children, far too much, and that they aren't listened to enough.”
asserted
they → show → children
A French government report in October said pension spending had risen by 2.5 percentage points of GDP between 2000 and 2023 while that for education had declined 0.5.
asserted
that → say → education
It also showed 32% of the education ministry’s budget went towards pensions, crowding out money for other areas.
asserted
% → show → areas
Gourdel, too, has been protesting for better conditions in schools in Belgium.
asserted
Gourdel → protest → Belgium
“We tried to do it passively.
asserted
We → try → it
Nobody heard us.
asserted
Nobody → hear → us
It's only when people started to burn trash or that kind of stuff that the media and cameras started showing us,” she said.
asserted
she → start → us
The protests are still spreading, with a demonstration planned in Germany this weekend over cost of living, inequality, war and the state of schools.
asserted
protests → spread → schools
Unrest has also hit Albania, where student-led demonstrations against Prime Minister Edi Rama's government, fuelled by anger over perceived corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards, engulfed Tirana and spread to other cities.
asserted
demonstrations → hit → cities
“Our Prime Minister spent 130 days not listening to us,” said Xyke Kurti, a 19-year-old architecture student.
asserted
Kurti → spend → us
“If you ask a student in Albania, 'where do you see your future?'
asserted
you → ask → future
Everyone says 'outside this country'," she said, arguing that at home, even if you have talent, someone with "connections is always going to beat you".
asserted
someone → say → you
Serbia’s student movement did what demonstrators in other European capitals can only dream of.
asserted
demonstrators → do → capitals
Now, though, comes the gritty business of governing – something neither the students nor their candidates have any experience of.
asserted
students → come → experience
Luka Stojakovic, another protester, brushes that aside.
asserted
Stojakovic → brush → that
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
