WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Demonstrations spread from France into Albania, Belgium, Italy and Spain, bringing fires, property destruction and clashes with police.
  • More than 2,500 officers were deployed in Tirana, while police used water cannons and tear gas in multiple cities.
  • Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni deployed 500 soldiers to Milan alongside drone surveillance, railway station checks and rapid response units.
  • Jihadists reportedly called for attacks against demonstrators and police during protests in Spain and Portugal.

The chaos gripping France continued spreading across Europe on Saturday as demonstrations brought fires, barricades, shattered property and clashes with police to several major cities. Authorities deployed thousands of officers, water cannons, tear gas, soldiers and surveillance resources as the unrest intensified.

In Albania, protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Education with demands for lower tuition fees and greater state investment in education. They also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama as the confrontation in the capital escalated.

Crowds set fire to dumpsters and couch cushions that Rama had placed as a symbolic invitation to dialogue with students, according to Euronews. The gesture did little to calm the streets as demonstrators pressed their demands outside the ministry.

More than 2,500 police officers were deployed in Tirana, underscoring the scale of the official response. Police turned water cannons on the crowd as authorities moved to control the protest and contain the disorder around the capital.

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Similar scenes unfolded in Brussels, Belgium, where police used water cannons and tear gas to dismantle barricades built by students in the streets. Luxury retailers and boutiques boarded up their stores amid fears of another round of the looting and destruction seen the previous week.

Protesters in one Brussels incident attempted to ignite a pile of rental scooters, road signs and bicycles, Reuters witnesses said. Police stopped the attempt, and one officer was seen hitting and kicking a protester during the confrontation.

At least five people were arrested in Brussels, though police said no major incidents had taken place. The arrests came as businesses tried to protect their storefronts and officers worked to prevent the demonstrations from producing further destruction.

Italy also braced for trouble, with stores across Naples, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Florence and Milan boarding up their windows. The precautions were taken in anticipation of the same kind of looting that had erupted in France the previous week.

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Milan was placed on particularly high alert as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni deployed 500 soldiers into the city. Authorities also used drone surveillance, railway station checks, and units prepared for rapid response as protests threatened to boil over.

The unrest turned violent in Rome, where demonstrators threw bottles and launched fireworks at police officers. Several street signs were torn down and defaced during the disorder, according to Euronews.

In Turin, protesters hurled rocks and smoke bombs at police officers who were blocking their path. Police later deployed tear gas after some demonstrators threw stones, bottles and smoke bombs at officers, while protesters also clashed violently with police in Florence.

The mounting unrest prompted the US Embassy and Consulates in Italy to issue a high alert. Americans were urged to avoid Piazza Duomo in Milan as well as major commercial streets where demonstrations and disorder could unfold.

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Spain faced its own scenes of turmoil as more than 25,000 people marched through Madrid demanding reform of the pension system. In Barcelona, wild videos shared on X showed masked demonstrators smashing a glass kiosk and starting fires in the streets.

“We already have the savages breaking and burning urban furniture in Barcelona,” X user Fatima Martinez posted Saturday. The images added Barcelona to the growing list of European cities confronting property destruction and flames amid the demonstrations.

The security concerns stretched beyond clashes already taking place in the streets. Jihadists reportedly called for attacks against demonstrators and police officers during demonstrations in Spain and Portugal, according to Euronews, adding another alarming threat to a continent already wrestling with spreading unrest.

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