From Greece to France: 10,000 students and professors protested in Athens. What demands did the demonstrators have?

From Greece to France: 10,000 students, scholars, and professors protested in Athens. What demands did the demonstrators have? Thousands of students, scholars, and professors took to the streets on Wednesday in several cities in Greece, demanding the allocation of more state funds for education, better conditions in schools, and less crowded classrooms. The protests are part of a wave of similar demonstrations in other European countries. Approximately 10,000 people, including students and scholars, participated in a peaceful march in the center of Athens and its suburbs, the police announced. Demonstrations also took place in other cities in the country, with participants expressing solidarity with the increasingly larger protests in France and other European countries, generated by the rising cost of living and what the protesters consider the degradation of conditions in schools, according to Reuters. A student protest took place in the streets of Athens, Greece. https://t.co/wb1DGfknTK — Daily News 360 (@daily_news360) October 21, 2026 The demonstrations increase pressure on the center-right government led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which is preparing for the elections in mid-2027. Greeks continue to face stagnant wages, high rents, and increasingly high energy costs, years after the crisis that affected the country. "From Greece to France, we want free public education," chanted the demonstrators gathered in front of Parliament. In Syntagma Square in central Athens, students set up tents and organized a protest at night, before the Wednesday march. The activity of public schools and hospitals was disturbed after a part of the teachers in primary education and doctors went on strike, protesting wages and lack of personnel. The Minister of Education, Sofia Zacharaki, stated before the demonstrations that she is considering the demands of the students and scholars. She admitted that housing prices are putting pressure on households in Greece and specified that projects worth over 733 million euros are underway for the construction of student dormitories and the modernization of infrastructure. Happening Now: Inspired by the protests in France, Spain, and Italy, students in Greece are taking to the streets to demand funding for education instead of war. https://t.co/RwPXWGB4Sg — Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) October 21, 2026 Greece recovered after the crisis of the 2009-2018 period, when wages and education expenses were reduced as part of austerity measures imposed in exchange for three international aid packages, totaling approximately 290 billion euros. Wages have increased since then, but the real purchasing power of many Greeks remains among the lowest in the European Union. Inflation and the sharp increase in fuel prices, amid the war in Iran, have affected them again. The average monthly salary, about 1,500 euros, remained at the 2009 level, and rents that have exploded in recent years have pushed many young Greeks out of the housing market in large cities. "It is very hard to survive here. Rents are very high, and the housing is very small. Our parents cannot afford to cover the costs of rent, electricity, and our living here," stated Georgia Foukidou, a 21-year-old student who participated in the protest in Athens. The demonstrations in Greece follow several days of protests in France and Albania, where dissatisfaction related to the rising cost of living and perceived corruption led to clashes and significant material losses. In recent months, the protests in Greece have been mostly peaceful. The Mitsotakis government announced that subsidies and other forms of support for households and companies to cope with the rise in energy costs will amount to approximately one billion euros.