A demonstrator at the 2014 protests in Sarajevo. abzur/flickr. Some rights reserved.Several days ago, Europe saw a massive number of police officers combating crowds of thousands on the streets of Paris. Teargas was flying, filling boulevards with impenetrable smoke. Although many were quick to connect the aforementioned event with a response to the bloody terrorist attacks on the French capital and its people last month, this was, in fact, a protest-gone-violent against the UN Climate Summit meeting to be held that day in Paris. Masses of people, dressed in casual, every day apparel aggregated around a singular cause: that of protesting the lack of political capacity shown by today’s political leadership vis-à-vis one of the most burning questions this generation faces – climate change.
Their desire, conviction and ideals were all very clear. Yet their method in Paris overshadowed all of this. One should not be too quick to judge the violent outburst of these demonstrators, however. As it turns out, the majority of the Paris protesters were in fact quite young. This protest, like many others before it, was a youth protest: a generational outcry over a topic that has become central to young Europeans. It was a spectacle of rebellious spirit, one that was born, nurtured and cherished in the world’s oldest continent - Europe.
The youth of Paris were not the only ones protesting over the last few years. Massive demonstrations have also taken place in Brussels, London, Madrid, Timisoara, Athens, and other capitals and large cities across Europe. The combination of an intrinsic sense of responsibility for our common future combined with an outstanding audacity to act against the authorities is what fuels these protests. These outbursts of public disorder have always managed to send a clear message - European youth is not to be trifled with.
