The causes of anger in Europe are many, but the result is the same (a street raising its voice – schools crumbling in France – expensive universities in Albania – housing shrinking in Spain – demonstrations in Belgium – and sharp political division in Germany and Britain); the spark did not move from one country to another because the causes are identical, but because the whole land is dry (rising prices – declining services – and eroding trust).
What adds to the tension is that many citizens see their governments preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and slow to solve their daily problems.
Governments reply that defence spending and support for Ukraine are a security necessity with no alternative, and perhaps that argument has weight, but the citizen measures security by what he finds in his children’s school, his rent and his bill.
I do not claim that the wave has reached Germany and Britain on the same scale, but we expect the contagion to spread within the Union if the causes continue, and we expect them to continue in light of the global rise in oil prices and the disruption of global supply chains, which also affects wheat and food, in parallel with the effect of information technology on jobs and unemployment.
And the warning to every government: peoples do not revolt against security or against foreign support as such, but against their feeling that their lives are the last of the priorities.
