The Lead

Will the Governments of Europe Collapse Before They Can Unleash Nuclear War Against Russia?

by Dennis Small (EIRNS) — Oct. 03, 2026

An 87-year-old Spanish woman, Maricarmen Abascal, was evicted from her Madrid apartment on September 23, 2026 after an “investment firm”—read “vulture fund”—Urbagestión bought the building she lived in and raised her monthly rent from €500 to €2,650 (which they later generously adjusted down to €1,650—still more than triple the original rent). Abascal, who is wheelchair-bound, could not afford the new rent on her pension, and so the Madrid police dutifully broke down her door and removed her on a stretcher, leading to her hospitalization.

The government of Pedro Sánchez presented urgent rent reform legislation to the Spanish parliament to prevent eviction cases such as this from being repeated, but it was voted down by that legislative body. That was on Friday, Oct. 2. The next day, there were nationwide protests of hundreds of thousands in 50 Spanish cities.

In neighboring France, a protest movement launched by high school students on September 17 has taken off throughout the country, with great violence, and is now out of control. This is like dry tinder in a country where President Emmanuel Macron has a popularity rating of 16-18%.

In Germany, former BlackRock executive and current Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is systematically dismantling what was one of the most technologically advanced industrial economies in the world, is hated even more than is Macron in France: his popularity rating oscillates between 11 and 12%.

And yet it is the Merzes and Macrons of Europe who are urgently driving for a nuclear confrontation with Russia, as per London’s policy direction—despite the opposition of the vast majority of their populations. As Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized in the course of his Oct. 1 Valdai Club discussions, “what lies behind the constant escalation of tensions by many European countries… [is] the serious deterioration in their economic and domestic political situation. Just look at what is happening to their economies, their social policy and the living standards of people in the major European countries. Under these circumstances, they desperately need to divert public attention away from domestic problems and towards external issues.”

Putin explained that, if the European attempt to isolate and even seize the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad continues, “the question of Russia using all the weapons at its disposal would inevitably and immediately arise. That is inevitable.”

Putin warned that the European leaders will do anything to “distract their citizens from the fact that it is they who are pursuing an aggressive policy towards Russia and pushing their people towards a dangerous threshold of confrontation.”

Putin concluded: “We are not threatening anyone. We have no intention of attacking anyone, whether in 2029, 2030 or 2050. But if we are subjected to aggression, we will have no choice but to respond. People in European countries need to understand this clearly and distinguish between our position and that of their current political leaders. It seems to me, however, that they do understand the difference. We can see it in the election results and in public sentiment across major European countries.”

And what of the United States? Recent polls indicate that President Trump has record-low approval ratings, with only 28% supporting his handling of the Iran war and 26% favorable on the economy. Can not that 75% of the population who rightly hate war and economic depression be organized to mobilize to change those policies?

Helga Zepp-LaRouche insisted today that it is time to get serious about rallying a united peace movement in the United States and Europe, before the Kaliningrad and related crises spin completely out of control. She pointed to the great potential that is being created by the recent interventions by Pope Leo XIV in his trips to France, Spain, and Africa, focusing on the concept that “development is the new name for peace.”

This emphasis, Zepp-LaRouche stressed, coincides with the goals of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as with the systematic proofs of the underlying concepts provided by Lyndon LaRouche in his Science of Christian Economy, among many other writings.

Contents

Strategic War Danger

Collapsing Imperial System

New World Paradigm

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