"Must Change Everything": Government Building Smashed... Anger Spreads

[Anchor]

Students across Europe are taking to the streets, fueled by anger over poor educational environments and soaring living costs. These spreading protests are even shaking the political landscapes of various countries.

Reporter Gwak Sang-eun has the details.

[Reporter]

Protesters and police clash in streets engulfed in tear gas.

Explosions ring out one after another, and water cannons are fired.

Student protests in France demanding improvements to the educational environment have entered their fourth week.

Teachers, parents, and even labor unions have joined in, transforming the movement into protests against skyrocketing rent and living expenses.

[Robinson / French High School Student: The government thinks the protest will cool down over time, but we will not stop until our voices are heard.]

In Albania, university students also took to the streets to demand better educational conditions and the resignation of the prime minister.

Government building windows were shattered to pieces by stones thrown by protesters, and the buildings of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice were engulfed in flames.

[Enida Bimi / Albanian Protester: Everything needs to be changed. Corruption is rampant everywhere, and all sorts of problems, including crime, keep happening.]

In Spain, where sit-in protests continue in protest of soaring rents, teachers have launched an indefinite strike demanding better educational conditions, while university students in Greece have occupied Athens Square to protest high rents, education costs, and energy bills.

[Eleftheria Giannoula / Greek University Student: We are joining our voices with the young students in Spain and France.]

The anger in the streets is shaking up political landscapes.

In France, with the presidential election about six months away, a far-left party supporting the student protests is growing in presence to counter the surging far-right party. In Spain, after a tenancy protection law aimed at appeasing protesters was voted down in a conservative-dominated parliament, the prime minister decided to dissolve parliament and call a snap election.

In Berlin, Germany, where the rent crisis is also severe, a left-wing party that pledged to publicize some 200,000 privately rented homes became the largest party in the state legislature election for the first time in history last month.

(Video Editing: Cho Moo-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.