Gen Z protests hit Germany as over 160,000 expected at Halloween rallies, while France braces for more unrest
France is bracing for a third weekend of protests coinciding with Halloween, with shops boarded up and authorities scrambling to prevent a repeat of the street violence that swept the country two weeks ago.
Workers secure a Bvlgari store with wooden boards ahead of expected protests by the youth movement "Gen Z regelt" in Berlin, Germany, October 30, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Annegret)
BERLIN: More than 160,000 people across Germany are expected to join demonstrations on Saturday (Oct 31), organisers say, as a youth-led movement inspired by protests elsewhere in Europe takes to the streets to demand better education and lower living costs.
The protests follow a wave of Gen Z-led demonstrations across Europe this year. In Serbia, student-led activism helped unseat the country's long-time leader at the ballot box, while protests in France have descended into rioting and looting.
The German protests, organised by campaign group Gen Z regelt (Gen Z takes charge), are planned in 34 cities including Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. The group says it opposes compulsory military service and wants greater investment in education as many young Germans struggle with rising costs.
German authorities say they expect Saturday's demonstrations, which coincide with Halloween festivities, to be largely peaceful but have warned of attempts by extremist groups to exploit the movement.
Parts of Germany's far-left extremist scene and some groups linked to foreign extremist movements have joined efforts to mobilise support, according to the federal interior ministry.
"We all have those images from France in our minds - looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers," said Roman Poseck, interior minister for the state of Hesse, whose capital is Germany's financial hub, Frankfurt.
"France must not be held up as a model in this regard."
In Berlin, some businesses along the luxury Kurfuerstendamm shopping boulevard boarded up windows and planned early closures ahead of the demonstrations amid concerns about possible unrest.
GEN Z TAKES CHARGE
For organisers, however, the focus is on what they see as the growing pressure on younger generations in Europe's largest economy.
"The government has offered no response to our concerns other than to continue making cuts and piling further burdens upon us," said Steve, an 18-year-old due to speak at a rally in Munich, addressing Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"We will continue to exercise our fundamental right to assemble until you stop ignoring us."
The protests come as Germany struggles to revive economic growth while facing growing pressure on pensions and public services as baby boomers retire and the working-age population shrinks.
But questions have been raised about who is driving the campaign and whether it is genuinely youth-led, given the broad mix of political and civil society groups involved.
Germany's national school student umbrella organisation, BSK, has distanced itself from the initiative and plans to hold a separate day of protest on November 20.
"We are distancing ourselves from 'Gen Z regelt', but not from the students themselves, who have legitimate concerns," said BSK secretary-general Amy Kirchhoff on Thursday.
Sean Baker, a student at the Technical University of Berlin, said he would join the protests on Saturday to call attention to the poor state of buildings on campus.
"When you go inside and enter the rooms, it looks like an abandoned building," he told Reuters. "Yet this is where we're expected to study on a regular basis."
FRANCE BRACES FOR THIRD WEEKEND OF PROTESTS
France is bracing for a third weekend of protests coinciding with Halloween, with shops boarded up and authorities scrambling to prevent a repeat of the street violence that swept the country two weeks ago.
The demonstrations come in an increasingly febrile political climate, with presidential elections six months away and far-right leader Marine Le Pen leading opinion polls.
President Emmanuel Macron this week said it was "not normal" for France to be in such a state of "turmoil" so close to a presidential election.
Around 70,000 security personnel will be deployed on Saturday, matching the number mobilised a week ago, as authorities seek to avert a repeat of the October 17 unrest.
More than 40 metro stations will be closed in the capital and tram services will also be disrupted.
An aide to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said they expected street violence on a scale "comparable" to the unrest two weeks ago, when images of clashes, looted shops and public buildings set ablaze were broadcast around the world.
The protest movement brings together Yellow Vest activists, trade unions, and high school and university students. It initially focused on the rising cost of living, inequality, and deteriorating learning conditions.
But following a security clampdown and serious injuries to some protesters, the movement broadened its demands to include greater protection of civil liberties and the right to protest.
A police source pointed to "considerable nervousness" among the authorities.
"There is no reason to think this will go smoothly," the source said.
Alain Di Crescenzo, president of France's chamber of commerce, said business owners were worried.
"Shopkeepers can't wait for Saturday to be over," Di Crescenzo told broadcaster France Inter.
"The information we have is that Halloween is not helping matters, because we're going to have people wearing masks."
Ahead of the protests, some shops and other businesses across France boarded up their storefronts.
"Behind these boards, there is neither power nor an enemy. Just a family and its work," read a message scrawled in black across the plywood protecting a Paris business.
The interior minister on Thursday warned of a "very high risk of public disorder", saying demonstrations would be allowed, but not in city centres.
"NIGHT OF DARKNESS"
The Paris police prefecture tried to prevent demonstrators from marching between Bastille and Nation in eastern Paris, but a court overturned the ban.
Nunez said authorities had detected social media calls for Halloween gatherings on Saturday evening urging protesters to spark a "revolution".
Some posts on social media called on people to dress up and gather for a "night of darkness".
Nunez warned that protesters would not be allowed to wear masks concealing their faces.
On Friday, customers crowded into a costume shop in Paris, but manager Didier Jarsale said it was not his job to "ask every customer what they intend to do with what they buy."
"We're not here to act as police officers," he said.
Authorities have acknowledged security and intelligence failures that helped pave the way for the clashes, widespread looting and vandalism that erupted on October 17.
Since then, they have moved to reassert control by restricting demonstrations and imposing curfews in several cities.
A night-time curfew will be imposed in the Republique and Chatelet-Les Halles neighbourhoods of Paris from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 1,000 municipal workers will be mobilised in Paris over the weekend to clean up public spaces, the mayor's office said.
The unrest followed weeks of demonstrations by high school students campaigning for better learning conditions.
On top of the cost-of-living protests, the country was last week shaken by a shooting that killed one person and wounded seven, including an 11-year-old girl, outside Paris. Most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds.
The attack has triggered rallies against the normalisation of racist hatred
