Lori Keza on Greece's despairing youth

In crisis-stricken Greece cases of politically motivated and racist violence have spiked, with a number of them carried out by gangs of young thugs belonging to the neo-Nazi party Chrysi Avgi. In the left-liberal online newspaper To Vima columnist Lori Keza calls on the Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias to tackle the problem at its roots: "The most important thing now is for him to deal with the source of the anger. What do we mean by this? Dendias and his political colleagues are the ones who are giving the new gangs their impetus. With their policies they have managed to drive youth unemployment up to 52.7 percent - the highest level in Europe. They have robbed the children of any desire to achieve anything. Why should they study if they won't earn a decent salary later anyway? Why bother to found stable relationships if they don't have their own home? Why should they leave the house if they don't even have money for a cup of coffee? Right-wing extremism gives their life meaning and doesn't cost anything. As members of a gang these children feel like they have a mission, like they're heroes."

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