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October 25, 2026 from RT-English Website
© AI-generated image
but the struggle over who governs, who pays and what survives is only beginning...
The 'day of rage' in France drew over 800,000 protesters onto the streets - an event that was dismissed by Paris and the European mainstream as merely the,
However, a closer look at the 'rebels' reveals
respectable, bourgeois-looking students and well-off citizens
engaging in destruction and violence.
In this shifting landscape, old institutions
are losing their legitimacy, while right-wing political forces -
whose ideas are increasingly seen as rational amid the chaos - are
emerging on the broader European stage.
However, the streets responded to Macron's proposal with looting and arson targeting government buildings.
This reaction serves as a precise diagnosis of
the French political system. The country's civic framework can no
longer hold society together and there is no confidence in a stable
future.
However, as Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director at the Valdai International Discussion Club writes, we are witnessing an inverted version of May 1968.
Nearly 60 years ago, the nationwide wave of
protests led by students and leftist intellectuals shaped the
liberal framework that has dominated global and European politics
ever since.
The old narratives of 'liberation' have been successfully adopted by the bourgeois youth, whose behavior is more violent that of an uncivilized tribe, as HSE professor Alexander Filippov, notes
But then, one may remember that, centuries ago,
the Bastille wasn't stormed by migrants either.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen suggested at a Paris business forum in August that Europeans should tighten their belts and become a continent that,
Her logic implies using household savings to fund the real economy through the Capital Markets Union.
Clearly, the proposal to dip into citizens'
savings while shifting the risks of factory bankruptcies onto them
can only be met with outrage by the decent bourgeoisie brought up on
'European ideals'.
The authorities fear street protests far less than the rise of their right-wing opponents.
The liberal mainstream would rather burn cities
than allow rational thinkers with worldviews grounded in national
interests to come to power.
Moreover, as Irina Maltseva, head of the 'France and Francophone countries - Politics, economics, culture' project at the HSE Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies points out, the spontaneous street protests will inevitably die down as the presidential campaign approaches.
Protests will wane, leaving us to wonder - what
comes next?
The Fight
between Left-wing and Right-wing forces in Europe
It would be a mistake to view each new crisis as an isolated anomaly within the EU.
Incidents like,
...are all interconnected threads in the same
narrative, best described as the collapse of the prevailing model...!
The establishment has attempted to persuade the world that a post-industrial economy, characterized by,
...is more important than factories, raw materials, ports, and affordable energy.
However, this is a path to economic self-destruction.
Budapest serves as a prime example of this systemic failure.
The analysis of the internal dynamics of economic issues in the EU, however, should not boil down to a simplistic equation of 'budget deficit = street protests'.
For example,
The answer seems to lie in the differing nature of the deficit and the resilience of national institutions.
In Poland and Romania, budget shortfalls are currently masked by rampant electoral populism and 'social bribes' - like Romania's subsidies for farmers or Poland's price caps at gas stations.
However, in France, the government has completely exhausted this option.
For many Europeans, the right-wing agenda and national self-interest have become the only rational option.
Right-wing pragmatists propose a clear audit and financial protection, while Brussels' liberal framework advocates for insolvency for the sake of rather dubious dogmas.
The key revelation is that the 'new right' has
learned to navigate this darkness by playing by Brussels' own rules.
There's a growing understanding that to save the industrial base
from stifling deficits, ideological romanticism must be abandoned.
Her approach has shown that it's possible to dutifully follow external Euro-Atlantic rituals while negotiating exceptions from Brussels on crucial issues vital to the national economy - such as energy or migration.
Bratislava is demanding official transitional
periods and exemptions from the European Commission to continue
receiving Russian gas, citing the need to protect the wallets of its
voters.
While his policies can't be called pro-Russian, pragmatism dictates a simple truth:
Even Hungary has adeptly shifted the discussion to a language of tough bargaini
Budapest has
formally agreed to comply with
REPowerEU requirements and phase out Russian energy supplies by
October 2027, but insists that the EU must provide compensation, or
else Hungarian companies will face bankruptcy.
Rhetorically,
Yet this is merely an attempt to maintain appearances during a losing game.
Internal realities compel Warsaw to
negotiate with Beijing to preserve
transit through the
Malaszewicze hub and to
impose a 60% windfall tax on its
state-owned company Orlen to temporarily quell public
dissatisfaction at gas stations ahead of elections.
The social upheaval was sparked by the allocation of resort zones for a mega project spearheaded by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and undermined the decade-long stability of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's left-liberal government.
In a desperate attempt to cling to his dwindling legitimacy, Rama resorted to his usual tactics, accusing street protesters of links to the American Antifa political movement and "Moscow's influence."
Although the immediate trigger was the Special Intensive Revision of electoral polls, the underlying issue is similar to the problem in France:
The issue isn't capitalism per se, but rather the collapse of its specific, degenerate form:
In its place arises a rigid, sovereign capitalism rooted in national self-interest.
For Russia, this is an important signal:
In this light, a critical question arises:
A key indicator will be the formation of a
coalition between the ruling government and right-wing forces in
Saxony-Anhalt, and their ability to govern effectively and maintain
power in the long term...
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