Greece has a long history of demonstrations, but the scale of this week’s rioting has not been seen since the uprising at Athens Polytechnic in 1973, an event that led to the collapse of seven years of military rule, says Helena Smith in The Guardian. The police shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos was the catalyst for the unrest, but the country has been experiencing a “rising tide” of anti-government strikes and it is clear that the crisis is being “sustained by wider unrest”, says Elinda Labropoulou in The Independent. So far, around 200 people have been arrested for looting, arson and attacks on police in around a dozen cities. Der Spiegel describes Athens, with its wrecked shops and burnt-out cars, as “resembling a war zone”.
“The balance between genuine protest, radical provocation and sheer hooliganism among the demonstrators is unclear”, says The Guardian, but the level of protest and public support for the protestors indicates that there is something “seriously amiss”. The chaos has exposed the “deep-seated anger” of many Greeks, who have been struggling to make ends meet since the advent of the euro, and who feel “deceived” by a corrupt and unresponsive political elite, says Smith. Official unemployment is near 9% and rising as the economic slump begins to bite, and young people’s expectations are increasingly bleak.
The situation has not been eased by the indecisive response of the unpopular centre-right government, led by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. Although Karamanlis said on Tuesday that there would be no leniency for rioters, so far the authorities seem concerned that a crack-down could worsen the situation, says Rachel Donadio in The New York Times. Karamanlis’ party holds a one-seat majority in parliament, and many analysts predict that he may have no choice but to call an early election next year, says Labropoulou. George Papandreou, leader of the opposition Socialist Party, is demanding resignations.