Over the past months, protesters in Greece have on several occasions attacked Greek politicians. Most of the time the demonstrations are spontaneous and they take place in broad daylight on the streets. There are some cases of protesters even gathering outside the houses of politicians to jeer them.
The incidents…
The first incident took place on December 2010, when a group of people attacked with their fists, stones and sticks former Conservative Minister Kostis Hatzidakis. Photographs of his face covered in blood shocked Greek public opinion and actually launched a new era in the political life of the country.
A new episode in the serial of attacks against Greek politicians was recorded on 21st of February, 2011 during a speech by Prime Minister George Papandreou at Humbold University of Berlin. Students entered the room and started shouting slogans against Papandreou. A few days later a similar incident took place when Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos was attending an event at the culture center “Greek House” in Paris.
Attacks were intensified after 30 June 2011 when Greek Parliament voted in favour of the implementation plan for the medium-term austerity program.
…and the reactions
The victims of these attacks most of the time blame a small left coalition party SYRIZA as the coordinator. People that take part in the protests deny that they have been controlled by any political party and they state that these are spontaneous protests against politicians who are harming the country’s future. Politicians are accusing protesters of being enemies of democracy and claiming that their actions cannot be accepted in a democratic regime.
It is difficult to make an assessment about the causes and the results of these attacks. Nevertheless, all have some common points:
- They took place in daylight and people participating in them have their faces uncovered.
- Most of the time they are spontaneous and do not last for long.
- Politicians state that these attacks are a threat for the democratic regime of the country.
Greece is currently experiencing a difficult socioeconomic situation. Fear of a gloomy future, anger with the Greek government and a sense of injustice cultivated by the belief that thepeople who are guilty of bringing about the current socioeconomic situation of Greece will not pay for their actions, creates an unstable political environment. A symptom of this environment is the attacks against Greek politicians and if Greek society wants to deal with this repercussion the government should treat the illness (current socioeconomic situation of the country) and not the symptom (attacks).
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