Date/Time
Date(s) - Friday - Nov 20, 2026 - Sunday - Nov 22, 2026
12:00 am
Categories
Posted originally on the StopRearmEurope Website here
Something is shifting in Europe. Across the continent, a new movement has arisen — and it is young. From Rome to Berlin, Vienna to Tirana and Belgrade, Paris to Madrid and Brussels, school and university students are organising, walking out, and refusing the future governments are preparing for them: crumbling schools and shrinking job prospects, while money flows into barracks, borders and battlefields.
That is why on 20 November 2026, students will launch the first International Youth Strike under the banner Fight for Our Future, Not Their Wars. And they are not alone. All over Europe, trade unions and civil society are on the move too — for real wages, accessible housing, decent public services and a future worth living; against the war budgets that impoverish our societies and destroy our planet.
This convergence — against the cost of living, for welfare not warfare, for a habitable planet, for young people’s future, and against militarisation — is the platform we carry into the days of action around 20 November.
Our priorities:
- Welfare, not Warfare. The EU’s own Defence Commissioner estimates that EU governments intend to commit nearly €7 trillion by 2035 to military spending, while housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure, decent jobs and a just transition are pushed aside. EU governments are now permitted to borrow heavily for arms, while fiscal rules keep squeezing social spending. Public funds for public goods and the protection of nature, not war.
- Give Young People a Future — No to Military Service. Schools, not barracks. Diplomas, not rifles. Teachers, not officers in classrooms. Secure jobs, not battlefields. We support every young person refusing conscription and militarisation. We stand by those who struggle for a future on a liveable planet.
- No to Militarisation — Yes to Diplomacy and Democratic Rights. Respect international law and the UN Charter. Resolve conflicts through diplomacy, not force. Protect democratic freedoms, labour, social and political rights, not the profits of big corporations and the arms industry.
The youth strike on 20 November and the Stop ReArm Europe mobilisations around 20–22 November are already under way in 18 countries — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Grèce, Romania, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK — with strikes, demonstrations, actions in schools and universities, and information sessions for the youth strike (20 November), and broader social mobilisations with trade unions, civil society, peace activists called by Stop ReArm Europe around 20 November.
We call on trade unions, social movements and civil society to endorse this call and join us!
A just transition, secure jobs, global solidarity — security with our neighbours, not against them.
Their wars, their profits — our dead. Welfare, not Warfare: Give young people a future.
Join us. Around 20 November 2026. Everywhere in Europe.
Add your action: https://calendar.stoprearm.org/events/
Endorse the call: https://tally.so/r/kdLMBo
Follow the Youth Strike: https://youthstrike.org/
Get in touch: action@stoprearm.org