France arrests over a thousand demonstrators as protests spread across Europes, and at least one of them involves the Trump family

Student and living cost protests are still sweeping through France, and now similar demonstrations have broken out in at least three other countries. Belgium, Italy, and Portugal are dealing with unrest of their own, and even Albania saw clashes this weekend, driven by a movement born out of opposition to a luxury resort tied to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Late Saturday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of France announced, per a report by Al Jazeera, that there had been 1,200 arrests and 150 injured officers, calling it “a miracle the toll wasn’t higher.” SBS News, citing AFP, reported another figure from the Interior Ministry, with close to 1,000 members of the security forces now listed as hurt. 

The city of Limoges took one of the heaviest blows with a fire that consumed most of the town hall, with a clip circulating online of its high roof collapsing as flames tore through the building. Writing on X, President Emmanuel Macron vowed that the people behind the destruction would be “prosecuted and punished.”

The anger didn’t stop at France’s borders

Police threw tear gas at crowds in Brussels, Belgium, and water cannon trucks doused protestors to disperse the crowds. In Milan, masked groups broke away from what began peacefully as a march opposing war and rising prices, and started to hurl stones at officers in riot gear.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took to X to denounce the rioting, writing, “Demonstrating is a right. Setting our cities ablaze is not.” In Lisbon, tens of thousands marched at the CGTP union’s call over low pay and a housing market where prices now stand at more than twice their 2017 level.

While these protests in European cities have erupted over the past weeks, Albania’s unrest has a different origin. Per Al Jazeera, officers in Tirana turned to rubber bullets on Saturday, while students, angry about steep fees and a lack of jobs, joined the Flamingo movement, which spent this summer rallying against a planned development on the southern coast.

Per NY Times, the crowds are resisting the permit Albanian authorities gave a Kushner-linked investment firm. A developer representative told NPR that investors are putting in money “in their personal capacity” rather than through Kushner’s firm. In August, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, widened an investigation into Kushner involving the Albanian bid.

Kushner also negotiates for the U.S. alongside envoy Steve Witkoff, whether it involves the Russo-Ukrainian war or the Iran war in the Middle East. In mid-October, European leaders resisted a plan from the pair to release frozen Russian assets. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, for his part, refuses to resign (per DW) and Albania’s next parliamentary vote isn’t scheduled until 2029.