Magazine / Current / The new insecurity / Debate | 22/12/2008

A country plunges into anarchy

In early December a 15-year-old schoolboy died after he was shot by a policeman in Greece. Since then the Greek press has been discussing the future of the country, its police force and its political leadership.

Since 6 December 2008, Greece has been plunged into a profound social and political crisis. The death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was shot dead by a policeman in the Athens district of Exarchia, known as an enclave for autonomists, triggered the most serious riots Greece has witnessed in 25 years. Thousands of youths took to the streets to protest at police brutality. They vented their anger by going on the rampage in Athens' city centre, in Greece's second-largest city Thessaloniki, as well as in Komitini and Ioannina in the north of the country, on the Mediterranean island of Crete and in the Greek port of Patras.

Youth without a future

At the centre of the debate about the root causes of the riots was the younger generation's lack of prospects for the future. "The death of the student was only the catalyst," wrote the renowned professor of psychology Fotini Tsalikoglou on December 8 in the daily Ta Nea. "It was the fuse for the great explosion. The explosion conceals a compressed desperation. ... Many young people live with the unbearable knowledge that there is no future."

A mask-wearing protester stares at a riot policeman outside parliament during a demonstration in central Athens, Greece, on December 13, 2008. Photo: AP/Lefteris Pitarakis

The identity and role of the rioters, who have left their mark (burning cars, broken windows) but remain faceless, have also been explored by the Greek press. "The hooded youths are without doubt the protagonists. They have all the necessary qualifications for a great career in our TV democracy. They are faceless, dark figures, ... daring and unfettered by a political platform or ideological restrictions. All this serves to create a very appealing model for the young ...", I Kathemerini newspaper wrote on December 9. Normally the authorities would assume the hooded protesters to be mainly autonomists, anarchists and members of groups the so-call Black Block, but because of the unprecedented scale of the protests this time round they have concluded that students and pupils are also involved. On December 10 the daily Ta Nea even went as far as to compare them with the Taliban.

Following the protestors' occupation of the polytechnic and other educational institutions during the rioting - according to the association of Greek teachers it was 600 schools, while the Greek ministry of education put the number at 150 - the press discussed the plans to scrap "university asylum" [legislation under which police are banned from university campuses]. This legislation is a legacy from the times following the Greek military junta when in November 1973 the army brutally suppressed the student uprising. "The universities have become the bastions of the underworld. It is there that the Molotov cocktails are made and all the weapons of destruction are stored," wrote the I Kathimerini daily on December 12. Others, too, were reminded of the times of the times of the junta. On December 8 a student wrote in a blog posted on greece-salonika.blogspot.com: "It it not a junta when I am too scared to go to university tomorrow because I might get caught up in the rioting? ... Is it not a junta when I can't take a bus because the streets are blocked because of the protests? ... This is the junta of the behooded. ... And the police always plays the role of observer."

The role of the police

Greece was experiencing an attack of schizophrenia at present, was how the daily I Kathimerini described relations between the citizens and the custodians of the law on December 11. "When the private property of the people was in danger we wanted to know where the police were. But when they did their job and used tear gas they were condemned." But basically it was the government that was to blame for the violence, wrote Ta Nea on December 8: "Prokopis Pavlopoulos [the Greek minister of the interior] ... proved to be too weak to harness the increasingly aggressive instincts behind police activities. ... There is no policy of security. The police authorities in Athens and Thessaloniki concentrate on the anarchists, thus focusing all their attention on a single political sphere."

In particular Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis came under attack for the way the government reacted to the rioting. "The prime minister ... has lost control over this dangerous situation. ... It was left up to a police force that lacked any commands or plan to improvise," I Kathimerini noted on December 11. It called for a new political elite to take the reigns: "The people are looking for a new leader, someone who can restore confidence in the public institutions, put an end to the immunity of politicians, journalists and other celebrities ... and who has the courage to fight corruption. Unfortunately such a leader is nowhere in sight."

The need for a New Deal

On December 15 Ta Nea newspaper discussed the potential impact of the economic crisis on the current tensions. "Until now the main problem has been the behaviour of the police. ... In the coming months we have to reckon with the social tensions resulting from the economic crisis reaching a climax. ... What we need is a New Deal for the youth, comprising a reorganisation of the schools and universities, a solution to the unemployment problem and the creation of a social environment in the cities." The youths demonstrating now are not only protesting at police brutality but also demand the resignation of the government and a better education system. According to a survey published in I Katherimerini newspaper, the majority of Greeks see the protests as a "national uprising". Six out of ten Greeks believe this is a mass phenomenon and not the protest of a minority. This means the protests need to be taken seriously.

Chrissi Wilkens

Chrissi Wilkens, born in 1976 in Starnberg, is euro|topics correspondent in Greece and Cyprus. She lives in Athens.
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