How the protests in France could spark chaos all over Europe
2 Min Read
The increasing cost of living crisis across Europe, starting with France, may indicate that larger protests and unrest are underway - and the energy crisis will only accelerate that.
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Protesters at a demonstration against the new pension reform in Paris on March 15, 2023 (Reuters)
When protests began in France on October 16th of last year, the concern was the skyrocketing cost of living; it proceeded through January of this year amid president Emmanuel Macron's pension reform decision that caused a stir.
That rings a bell and goes back to the event that sparked the French Revolution - the so-called Day of the Tiles - when aristocrats were against giving up their fiscal advantages amid rising living costs.
However, a poll conducted in October across Europe demonstrated that voters in Europe's four largest nations predicted continuous social unrest and protests in upcoming months due to the increase in living costs.
Read more: Sainte-Soline police violence leaves protester life hanging by thread
In Britain and Germany, one in five people claimed to be coping well with the cost of living crisis, but in Poland and France, merely one in twenty people replied the same way.
Taking all of that into consideration, the increasing cost of living crisis across Europe may very well indicate that larger protests and unrest are underway - and the energy crisis will only accelerate that.
Gas imports into Europe are at record lows and historic lows, as a result of the draconian sanctions imposed on Russia by the West for the war in Ukraine, and liquified natural gas has proven to be a replacement but not sufficient enough to sustain.
During the past week, Germany has witnessed mass strikes at public transportation stations as workers demand higher wages due to their struggle amid surging inflation, the latest industrial action in Europe's top economy.
The UK is suffering from intensely high electric and energy bills, and nurses have been walking out of their jobs, demanding higher pay to meet the cost of living standards.
Read next: German unions demand higher wages, call for transport strike
Europe will not be like it was last year or even in the past few months, as what is happening in France is only the spark plug to the turmoil that will engulf the continent in the next few months.
