MUTINOUS GREECE

Without exaggeration, recent events in Greece are significant for the whole of Europe. The rebellion by its youth, which testifies to a profound social, economic and political crisis in the ancient nation of Greece, has effectively become a milestone in the history of the continent because it is inseparably linked to a myriad processes unfolding over recent decades in the Old World. 

Parthenon of resistance

It seemed that the outward calm of life in Greece was instantaneously turned upside down when, during a clash between students and law enforcement officers, a policeman's bullet killed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The protest actions centred on three universities - the Polytechnic University in Athens, the Law School of Athens University, and Saloniki University. The former is routinely seized by anarchists and supporters of left-wing groups during student riots in Greece. It was at this university that the historic student rebellion against the fascist junta of the "Black Colonels" started in 1973. Back then, it was mercilessly crushed by the military, but eventually resulted in the victory of democracy. Now the law bans the police and military from entering university campuses in the country without special permission from the university administration and a court ruling. Taking advantage of this, protesting youths, guided by anarchist groups, used the universities as bases for sorties into nearby streets, resulting in clashes with police and the burning of shops and cars.

The protesters' tactics changed somewhat from mid-December. Students began seizing radio and TV stations, broadcasting anti-government statements and urging people to join the "displeased." Khristos Panagopoulos, president of the state TV company, which was targeted by the riotous youth, said that it was a well-prepared action. "They were people who knew how to operate the production console desks, equipment and cameras. It was carefully planned," he said.

A few days later, another wave of protests hit Greek cities. Thousands of radicals came out onto the streets and staged a rally in the centre of Athens. The peaceful protest action quickly escalated into clashes with police. Anarchists set fire to the Police Academy building and police cars parked near it, which was a sign that demonstrators were ready to seize police offices and administrative buildings. The famous Acropolis became the centre of the youth movement. The rioters hung posters with the word "resistance" in Greek, English and German, right next to the Parthenon.

The leaders of rioters issued a statement: "We chose this monument to democracy, a monument which is known worldwide, to urge resistance to government violence and demand our right to education and work." This statement effectively explained the cause which brought tens of thousands of people out of their homes and university classes and made them ready to fight those who, in their opinion, implement a policy of "state violence" against them.

Karamanlis's impasse

In fact, the killing of the anarchist teenager was just the last straw to break the camel's back of popular discontent (it was popular because the actions of the protesting students are supported by quite a considerable number of Greeks, and not only young people take part). We also have to bear in mind that, in contrast to, say, the outskirts of Paris, the streets of Athens are lined by the children of well-off families who are also ethnic Greeks. And if they complain of hopelessness and lack of prospects, we can only imagine the sentiments of poorer Greeks. Naturally, the rioters' bravado and the mob's frenzy are accompanied by vandalism - there seem to be people with criminal inclinations among Greek anarchists too. The hooligans' actions are condemned by the vast majority of the Greeks, but the outburst of young people's anger which hit the streets and squares in hitherto peaceful Greek towns must be considered a reflection of the sentiments of Greek society at large.

So what is behind these sentiments?  Many Greeks are unhappy with the work of Kostas Karamanlis's right-wing government. It came to power on a wave of patriotic sentiment just before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, but soon marred its own reputation with numerous scandals involving corruption and a disastrous economic policy. The worsening economic situation of a considerable proportion of the Greek population which resulted from the government's policy was the main cause of current events in that Balkan nation. People complain about low salaries and expensive housing and food. Unemployment has reached 10% and young people complain that they cannot find work and are forced to go abroad. The government's domestic debt has increased and the national budget still suffers from the consequences of appropriations for the organization of the Athens Olympics. The Economic Cooperation and Development Organization (successor of the European Economic Cooperation Organization, which was founded back in 1961) predicts that economic growth in Greece will slow down next year to 2%, because the manufacturing sector is contracting at record speed. The world financial crisis aggravates the situation further. This bundle of troubles provokes protest in a society which wishes to change the situation in which the "poor pay for all the country's problems." And the fact that not only left-wing youth hold these sentiments was demonstrated by the general strike organized at the peak of protest demonstrations. It was staged by the two largest trade union organizations in Greece, which together have more than 2 million members, in other words, roughly half of the country's workforce. The trade unions demand higher salaries and pensions, social support for poor families and better unemployment benefits.

The main political demand of the students and strikers was the resignation of the Kostas Karamanlis cabinet. The leading opposition party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement makes the same demand. Its leader, Georgios Papandreou, said that the government formed by the New Democracy party is unable to control the crisis because it has lost the trust of the Greek nation. They see the solution as the holding of early parliamentary elections.

In effect, a government which has driven itself into impasse has left people no option but to confront the hopelessness of their situation, and this has found expression in riots and burning shops and cars.

In the mean time, Greek society's drive to protest has foreign causes too. Greeks complain that the cost of living has increased dramatically since the transition to the euro six years ago. Criticism of the European Union also stems from the fact that bureaucrats in Brussels made a favourable assessment of Karamanlis's economic policy and praised him, in particular, for reducing the budget deficit and continuing the process of privatization. However, precisely these right-wing reforms have led to the confrontation between the government and the protesters, who believe that the strings of the "unrestrained capitalism" introduced by New Democracy stretch to the think tanks of an increasingly liberal EU. And it is no accident that the Greek rioters urge all the young people in Europe to support their protest.

The bellicose war cry of the oppressed

The protest actions by Greek youth are certainly directly linked to patterns of European social and political life. After all, the symptoms of so-called anarchist rebellion can be found in many other countries of the continent. Left-wing youth organizations in Italy, Denmark, France and Germany staged protest actions of support of their Greek peers. But the signal which they received from the native land of Pericles, the father of democracy, was intended for the entire European community. Its gist was conveyed in proclamations disseminated by the Greek rioters, and other materials in which they describe their view of the current situation and the future of the world order, and also issue their "verdict" on the "modern capitalist system" and international relations.

"The democratic regime does not kill an Alexis every day in the guise of peacekeeper solely because it kills thousands of Ahmeds, Jorges, Jintaos and Benazirs every day; because it systematically, methodically and mercilessly exterminates the third world, that is, the world's proletariat. So, out of this massacre which is carried out religiously every day, the idea of freedom is born, not as a universal value or the natural right of every human being, but as the bellicose war cry of the oppressed," say the Greek spokesmen of the latest anarchist ideology. To change the situation, they propose to "bleed the system of capitalist production and consumption." As a way of achieving this goal, they suggest organizing a "universal, indefinite strike," and then "in the context of the collapse of already long-dead institutions, new relations will be born, based on solidarity and collectivism." "We rejoice at the idea that we stand at the beginning of a new revival of the class struggle which, if we wish to wage it, if we put in the effort, might lead us out of crisis and give us strength for a revolutionary spurt into the unknown beyond this system," say the leaders of the Greek youth movement.  "We are witnesses at the moment of a great socialist revolution," one of the leaders of the Greek riots and press secretary of the "United Coalition of Anti-capitalist Left-wing Groups," Panagiotis Sotiris, said at the height of the disorders.

Do such views have a solid base of support in other European countries?  They most certainly do. The anti-capitalist boil which has peaked in Greece has been coming to a head for a long time all over Europe. It will suffice to remember the mass protest actions by anti-globalists which accompanied all the more or less significant political forums involving the political leaders of the "golden billion" countries. And of course, the failure of the constitutional process in the EU three years ago was a sign of the latest version of the spectre of revolution haunting Europe. It exposed a serious conflict between the European elite and civil society, most of whose representatives, incidentally, are not at all poor and represent the middle class, which until now was always considered to be a pillar of the prosperous and stable development of Western states.

But the events in Greece teach the entire European community yet another - very important - history lesson. They are a good example not only of a clash between the elite and the people, but also the fact that the arbitrariness of one group coming to power incites lawlessness by others, those who are at the other end of the social hierarchy. Riots in the streets of Greek cities are the flip side of an ultraliberal policy which does not leave people any other role but as a commodity to be bought or sold. These events are also an ugly manifestation of pseudo-democratic realities, when the marginal and the unnatural can impose their will on the majority in society. And present-day Europe will have to force itself to find an antidote to a political system which has begun to corrode and which attaches the highest priority to the interests of political and other minorities.

In this sense, the destructive consequence of the Greek riots - the consequences, not the essence, which is largely logical and justifiable - urge us to revise the path upon which Western civilization has embarked. And the young generation, that is, the future of Europe, spearheads this process of revision. It is notable that this rebellious wind came from the country where the very concept of democracy and political freedom arose a long time ago. The killing of a young Hellene became the spark to light the fire of a movement which promises to dramatically change the Old World.