Why are Europe's young people in the streets?

This autumn, young people have taken to the streets across Europe, from Paris and Milan to Belgrade, Tirana and Lisbon. In Albania, students have clashed with police for weeks, demanding the prime minister's resignation. In France, pupils blocked their lycées until the government offered concessions. In Serbia, a student movement won an election and ended Aleksandar Vučić's fourteen years in power.

We try to work out why it is happening now, and whether any of it is working. Donatella della Porta, professor of sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence and founder of its Centre on Social Movement Studies, helps us see what links the protests.

Apart from our own interview, everything in this episode comes from reporting already published and the public record. Where people disagree, you'll hear who says what.

Reporting: Pollar (pollar.news/en/event/violent-protest-rocks-tirana, /europes-youth-protests-spread, /serbia-votes-turnout-surges), AP, Reuters, ANSA, Adnkronos, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Rai, Open, Le Monde, Les Echos, The Irish Times, BFMTV, France 2, LCP, Al Jazeera, RTÉ, OBC Transeuropa, OCCRP, Exit.al, Balkanweb, Gazeta Tema, Anadolu, Tirana Times, N1, ZDFheute, hessenschau, Salon, Eurostat, Ipsos BVA, Citizen Lab, European Western Balkans, SeeNews.

Archive sound: AFP (Greta Thunberg, Saint-Denis, 13 October 2026), LCP (20 October 2026), French Ministry of National Education (26 October 2026), Reuters (Aleksandar Vučić, 25 October 2026).

Interview: Donatella della Porta, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, recorded on 31 October 2026.

Cover photo: Vyolltsa, Wikimedia Commons (public domain, CC0), cropped and toned by Pollar.