Europe Chaos: Germany Braces for Protests, France Mobilizes for Halloween Rallies

By Staff, Agencies 

The Guardian reported that street protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services are expected to spread across Germany on Saturday, while France prepares for another wave of demonstrations on Halloween amid heightened security measures and warnings of possible unrest.

In Germany, a coalition of youth groups is calling for demonstrations in more than 30 cities, demanding increased investment in education, climate protection, and housing, while opposing any return to mandatory military service.

In France, activists and unions are mobilizing again over low wages, rising living costs, and deteriorating public services, following weeks of demonstrations that have also affected Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Albania.

Authorities in both countries have announced extensive police deployments, citing concerns about violence and looting around the planned rallies.

The German initiative, known as Gen Z regelt, or “Gen Z is sorting it,” has called on supporters to demonstrate in more than 30 cities. Organizers are demanding greater public spending on schools, climate protection, and housing, while opposing proposals to reinstate mandatory military service.

Alexander Throm, a member of the ruling conservative Christian Democratic Union [CDU] parliamentary group, warned against scenes similar to those witnessed in France.

“Scenes like those in France must be prevented at all costs,” he wrote in the Handelsblatt business newspaper.

Felix Banaszak, co-leader of the opposition Green Party, cautioned against portraying the demonstrations as inherently dangerous before they take place.

“The [CDU’s] rhetoric, which seeks to criminalize these protests pre-emptively and paint them as the work of marauding gangs, may even drive people towards radicalization,” he told the RND media group.

Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik Meisel announced that an additional 1,500 officers would be deployed in the capital, although she said authorities had no concrete evidence of planned coordinated looting.

“We have no concrete evidence of any coordinated looting operations being planned,” she said.

Around 10,000 demonstrators, mainly pupils, students, and their parents, are expected to gather at the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon. A smaller gathering is planned in Berlin’s Mitte district later in the evening. Demonstrations have also been called in Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt, and Hamburg.
The organizers have urged participants to maintain a peaceful approach, stating on their website and social media platforms: “Our protest is peaceful, without exception. Violence goes against everything we stand for. Only through peaceful means can we achieve something together.”

More than 160,000 people had registered on the initiative’s website by Friday, indicating their intention to attend.

The federal pupils’ conference, a youth political lobbying group, has distanced itself from the demonstrations, citing what it described as the initiative’s “unclear” organizational structure. It plans to hold a separate demonstration in Berlin on November 20, focusing on declining educational performance and involving teachers and other youth movements.

France is also preparing for renewed demonstrations, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez describing Saturday as a “very high risk” day.

Around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes, including elite units, are expected to be deployed nationwide to prevent violence on the sidelines of the protests.

Nunez said radical groups had circulated calls on social media for violent Halloween gatherings. He warned that the greatest threat to public order could emerge after the main cost-of-living demonstrations had officially ended.

“We are seeing many calls from the labor movement, the radicalized far left and certain radicalized gilets jaunes [yellow vests], urging people to attend rallies on public streets starting at 8 pm in many cities across France,” he said.

He added that some messages contained radical demands, including calls for “revolution”. The minister said authorities would “tolerate zero excesses” and promised an “extremely firm” security response.

Security measures introduced the previous weekend to protect businesses will be reinforced. While peaceful demonstrations will be authorized, most will not be permitted “in city centres, where there is a risk of public disorder,” Nunez said.

The situation in Paris remains uncertain after authorities banned two separate marches planned by unions and the "yellow vest" movement through the city center. Police have instead authorized a single march in the capital’s far southeast.

Both groups organizing the marches are challenging the decision to exclude their demonstrations from central Paris.