Europe falls under siege as demonstrators battle police, set fires in cities across continent

The chaos and unrest still gripping France continued to spread Saturday to its European neighbors.

In Albania, protesters rallied outside the Ministry of Education to demand lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The crowds set fire to dumpsters and couch cushions that Rama had placed as a symbolic invitation to dialogue with students, Euro News reported.

More than 2,500 police officers were deployed in the capital, Tirana, where they turned water cannons on the crowd.

Similarly, police used water cannons and tear gas to break up student-made barricades in the streets of Brussels, Belgium.

High-end retailers and luxury boutiques across Brussels boarded up their shops fearing a repeat of last week’s looting and destruction, Euro News reported.

In one incident, protesters attempted to set fire to a pile of rental scooters, road signs and bicycles, but were thwarted by cops, one of whom hit and kicked a protester, Reuters witnesses said.

At least five people were arrested, but police said no major incidents had taken place.

Protests also broke out in Italy, with stores across Naples, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Florence and Milan boarding up their windows in anticipation of the same looting that erupted in France last week.

Milan was on particularly high alert, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni deploying 500 soldiers into the city along with drone surveillance, railway station checks and rapid-response units.

Protests turned violent in Rome as demonstrators threw bottles and launched fireworks at police officers.
Several street signs were also torn down and defaced, according to Euro News.

In Turin, protesters threw rocks and smoke bombs at police officers blocking their way, and demonstrators also violently clashed with police in Florence.

The unrest prompted the US Embassy and Consulates in Italy to put the country on high alert, urging Americans to avoid Piazza Duomo in Milan and major commercial streets.

Police deployed tear gas in Turin after some protesters threw stones, bottles and smoke bombs at officers.

In Spain, over 25,000 people took to the streets in Madrid demanding pension system reform.
Masked demonstrators were seen smashing a glass kiosk and starting fires in the streets of Barcelona in wild videos shared on X.

“We already have the savages breaking and burning urban furniture in Barcelona,” X user Fatima Martinez posted Saturday.

Jihadists have reportedly called for attacks on demonstrators and police officers during demonstrations in Spain and Portugal, EuroNews reported.