Moscow, October 25, 2026 – The Europe Today: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the recent wave of protests across Europe is the result of the European Union’s own mistakes, adding that European countries are struggling to manage the migration crisis.
“Europeans are dismantling their own traditions, so they are even less able to convey them to migrants,” President Putin said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin.
His remarks come as mass protests once again swept across Europe over the weekend, with demonstrators clashing with riot police amid widespread anger over rising living costs and government policies. The unrest has largely been inspired by protests in France, which began in September and subsequently spread to other countries, taking on a broader anti-government character.
President Putin said some European leaders were unable to take responsibility for the unrest and, rather than analysing the situation and identifying its causes, tended to blame other countries, first the United States and now Russia.
“But they quickly came to their senses and reverted to their traditional accusations against Russia. My first reaction when I saw this was surprise, because to claim that we are provoking mass protests in major European cities is really going too far,” the President said. He added that such claims reflected the weakness of European leaders in their inability to address the situation.
According to President Putin, Europe lacks the resources to integrate all migrants, a shortfall that he said has led to the current crisis.
France remains the focal point of the demonstrations. According to figures from the French Interior Ministry, at least 410,000 people took to the streets nationwide on Saturday, including around 110,000 in Paris.
Protests have also taken place across Italy, following a wave of violence the previous weekend in cities including Rome, Naples and Bologna, where police deployed water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
