Rising fuel prices across Europe are feeding protests and political upheaval - and handing momentum to the far right. France has been shaken by some of its worst unrest in decades, and elections next year in France, Italy and Poland could reward parties calling for a return to Russian energy.

The trigger is economic. The US-Iran war erupted in February 2026 and sent energy prices sharply higher, compounding governments' struggles with inflation, growth and spending. The European Commission estimates the Iran conflict has cost Europe roughly €100 billion ($112 billion) through disrupted trade and energy markets. Gas prices in Europe have jumped about 140% and diesel prices have doubled.

France's worst unrest in decades

Demonstrations that began over deteriorating school facilities in Paris' northern suburbs have grown into nationwide unrest, with shops looted, buildings torched and a 19th-century town hall in Limoges set on fire.

President Emmanuel Macron, in a weekend address, acknowledged the "legitimate demands" of protesters angered by rising living and fuel costs while condemning the violence and looting. "We must never confuse them with those who destroyed, vandalised and looted," he said.

The anger is felt well beyond the riot zones. "Why am I here? Well, quite simply, I find the current cost of living truly terrifying," said Quentin Leviloux, a 21-year-old protester in Nantes, citing food and fuel costs for minimum-wage earners.

Protests spread across the continent

The discontent reaches far beyond France, with farmers, truckers and tenants taking to the streets in country after country:

• •In Sicily, farmers drove tractors into Gela, a town on the island's southern coast, in protest over fuel prices. "We cultivate the land, we harvest debts," read one banner.
• •Arcangelo Gambino, a farmers' representative in Caltanissetta province, said growers there were completely at a standstill, with fuel costs for them more than doubled.
• •Blockades by truckers, farmers and steelworkers have snarled transport across parts of southern Italy, contributing to local fuel shortages and supermarket supply concerns. In Milan, police clashed on Sunday with demonstrators hurling stones and looting stores over poor public services and rising living costs.
• •Portugal's centre-right government is under pressure after tens of thousands marched through Lisbon on Saturday over low wages, housing costs and the rising cost of living.
• •In Spain, nationwide demonstrations over housing shortages and soaring rents broke out after an 87-year-old woman was evicted from her home - unrest that has helped trigger a snap election next month.
• •Belgium has seen demonstrations as well, and in Albania large rallies have been fuelled by anger over perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards.

Calls to restore Russian energy ties

Politicians on the hard right - and some on the hard left - increasingly argue that restoring energy ties with Russia would help lower costs, challenging Europe's mainstream consensus on support for Ukraine.

Germany's AfD is pushing to rebuild those links, arguing that Berlin's support for Ukraine is needlessly self-sabotaging.

In Italy, a challenge to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has emerged from National Future, a new far-right party whose leader, former army general Roberto Vannacci, wants gas links with Russia restored.

In Poland, concern over energy bills is boosting support for the far-right Confederation of the Polish Crown, whose leader Grzegorz Braun has called for a return to buying Russian oil and gas. He made the case alongside AfD politicians in Lubmin, Germany, where the damaged Nord Stream pipelines land. "I love the smell of Russian gas in the morning," he said.

What the price shock costs - and what it means for elections

The political stakes are highest where voters go to the polls soonest. France's presidential election is next April, with Macron's government struggling with a ballooning budget deficit and pressure from bond markets.

Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally and hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Mélenchon have both made fuel prices central planks of their campaigns. Le Pen's proposal to sharply cut value-added tax on fuel has attracted broad public support and resonates with her core rural and semi-rural voters, where car travel is often essential.

According to polling by Elabe, Le Pen's ratings have improved while Macron's have slipped since the Iran war began.

"Rising fuel prices are clearly an issue that boosts Marine Le Pen," said Gilles Ivaldi, a political scientist at Sciences Po, noting it is an issue she has owned for quite some time. Concerns about purchasing power, he said, have become "a major driver of populist politics" across Europe.

Germany, meanwhile, has seen the clearest far-right surge in the polls:

• •The AfD leads national opinion polls after strong gains in local elections.
• •German inflation spiked to nearly a three-year high in September, with energy price inflation reaching 14.9% - ammunition the AfD has used against Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
• •The cost of living topped Germans' concerns for a fifth straight year in a survey published this month.

Jan Steckel, professor for the political economy of climate change at the Technical University of Munich, said past experience indicates a link between high energy prices and voter turnout for the AfD. "Populist parties often frame energy costs as avoidable and attribute them to government policy choices," he said - a framing with which incumbent parties struggle.