00:00It's very much of an immigration problem.
00:02You're not going to have a Europe pretty soon if they keep going.
00:05Okay, we'll get back to this in a sec.
00:07But after protests in some parts of Europe,
00:09Trump's not the only one spewing this rhetoric.
00:11Who else do we mean?
00:12Putin.
00:13Russian officials proclaim the total collapse of the West
00:15and the suicide of Western civilization through migration chaos.
00:20Dramatic and wrong.
00:21In fact, EU officials are investigating pro-Russian
00:24and far-right social media accounts,
00:25spreading violent videos and disinformation campaigns.
00:28Loads of right-wing politicians have framed the unrest
00:30through a migration lens,
00:32redirecting the debate to immigration policy and border management.
00:35But let's set the record straight here.
00:37The French protest started over schools.
00:39Students have been facing chronic staff shortages,
00:42dilapidated facilities, underpaid teachers,
00:44and generally dismal life prospects.
00:46The protests expanded to include other issues,
00:49like affordability and diesel prices.
00:51Gen Z in Italy, Belgium, and Albania are also hopping on board.
00:54And guys, it's global.
00:56Remember youth protests in India?
00:58Nepal, the Philippines, Peru, Tanzania.
01:02Oh yeah, and the one in Serbia
01:04that literally just ousted former president Alexander Vucic?
01:07It's important to note that their contexts are very different,
01:10but is there any common denominator?
01:12I would say what unites this movement is a shared sense that the political and economic system
01:19is failing their generation.
01:22And whether we are talking about education, housing, employment, or the cost of living,
01:27many young people feel that the opportunities available to previous generations are disappearing for them.
01:34With key elections in Spain, France, and Italy in the coming year and a half,
01:37the far right everywhere is hopping fast on the anti-migration train.
01:40And it's no secret that for Trump and Putin, whose narratives align with Europe's far right,
01:45undermining European cohesion is a project that's, how should we say, same, same, but different.
01:49So both benefit in different ways from portraying Europe as a continent in decline.
01:55Trump is largely about domestic political advantage because of the midterms.
02:00And for Putin, it's about weakening a geopolitical adversary.
02:05So how's this narrative turning out in the real world?
02:07Per usual, impossible to answer on social media.
02:09We need ethnographers for that.
02:11But for a quick recent poll, maybe ask Brazil and Serbia?
02:14Just saying.
