France and Germany hit by mass cost-of-living protests

· Politics · France · Germany

Around 320,000 people took part in a third weekend of protests across France over living costs and conditions in schools, the interior ministry estimated, while organizers counted nearly half a million. Clashes broke out in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse after largely peaceful marches, with an officer hit by a Molotov cocktail and shops boarded up in advance. France deployed some 70,000 security personnel, and the interior minister warned that Halloween masks could draw fines. In Germany, tens of thousands of young people marched under the banner "Gen Z regelt!" demanding more education funding; police used water cannon and pepper spray as masked demonstrators threw fireworks, stones and bottles, and rioters looted shops.

Why it matters：A rolling wave of cost-of-living protests is testing the political stability of Europe's two largest economies at a time when governments face tight budgets, and the unrest could reshape their domestic politics.

Key points

  • France's interior ministry put turnout at about 320,000; organizers counted nearly half a million.
  • Around 70,000 French security personnel were deployed ahead of the marches.
  • German protests were organized by a collective called "GenZ regelt!", and police used water cannon and pepper spray.

Sources (original reporting)

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