Europe in Fear of the Spread of Discontent from Greece

After about ten days of unrest and disorder on the streets of Athens and other Greek cities, the situation in Greece shows no significant signs of calming. Besides the youth, the unemployed are also taking to the streets, and a general strike is forthcoming.

Written by: Vanja Figenwald

The unrest in Greece has been ongoing for the second week now, having begun to brew around the beginning of December, although all media reports cite Saturday, December 6, as the official start of the riots in Athens. The catalyst was the murder of 15-year-old student Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was involved with a group of young anarchists in an attack on a police patrol in the sometimes problematic Athens suburb of Exarcheia. The brutal end of this young life sparked outrage among Greeks, as well as condemnation from the global public, but things are never that simple. Protests and riots in reaction to this unfortunate event were initially marked by youthful defiance, but then grew into a revolt of broader proportions with a rather uncertain outcome. The significance of what is happening in Greece these days is particularly highlighted in the general context of the crisis and recession spreading across the world, as many are now rightly asking – are we next?

Demonstrations and riots over the past ten days have spread to other Greek cities, and the violence has taken on alarming proportions. Property is being damaged, banks are particularly popular targets, with all ATMs in Athens being smashed, Molotov cocktails and explosions have become a daily occurrence, as have clashes with the police. To say that the cause of such anger is solely the economic crisis would be a dangerous simplification, but it is simply untrue. History teaches us that the manifestation of widespread public anger is preceded by a long and slow simmering, making it clear that the Greeks are not marching for Alexandros, nor for Marx and Engels, nor because of Wall Street. They are burning the city because something is seriously wrong, and it has been for some time.

In short, the lack of employment, inefficiency of administration, poor government, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and increasingly strong segregation not only of classes but also of nationalities and origins (especially expressed in developed countries with strong immigration) are at the core of what is happening, and thus the fear of others is justified. If the crisis continues and prolongs, there is a high probability of discontent spreading throughout Europe.

MN: Chaos on the Streets of Greek Cities

Regarding the very incident that ignited the blaze, reports are a textbook example of Rashomon, where diametrically opposed witness statements collide. Some lean towards the police side of the story, while others support the young men involved in the conflict. The truth is likely somewhere in between. What has been established beyond any doubt is the police’s entry into the conflict, contrary to direct orders. The law enforcement agencies, however, are not helped by the extremely unpleasant fact that has broader implications for the analysis of events. The boy was not just some street thug, but a member of a wealthier, some would say elite, layer of society with ambitions for a legal career, having attended a private school. Simply put, a citizen was killed, and this undoubtedly further influenced public opinion and the reactions that followed, while the demonstrators gained a martyr. Both police officers have been suspended and charged, and their swift condemnation can be expected to calm passions and appease the angry mob.

It did not take long for the chaos to take on a political direction, in this case, the engagement of the Communist Party and the left in general, which is otherwise strong in Greece, soon became involved in the direct organization of further protests in the days that followed. Reminiscences of 1968, still fresh in the memory of many, are complemented by the fact that the center of the rebellion at certain faculties, many of which are under permanent occupation by students, is spreading through other layers of the population, primarily the unemployed and dissatisfied workers. Soon, the usual folklore that accompanies such events emerged: looting, vandalism, arson, personal vendettas, breaking the monotony through the destruction of property and people, in a word, chaos.

MN: Are the French Next?

Unions also saw their opportunity in the unrest. On Wednesday, December 10, the first general strike occurred, paralyzing the country, and in the following days, workers became regular visitors to the demonstrations, with another general strike announced for this week. According to surveys conducted so far, as many as 60 percent of respondents expressed the belief that the riots have a broader social character. They are driven by a series of corruption scandals in public administration, rising unemployment, the inability of newly graduated students to find jobs, cuts resulting from the current financial crisis, as well as a series of controversial laws in the field of education that have caused unrest among the student population for the past two years. This is Greece, not Croatia.

However, the riots in Greece are not solely the result of internal Greek problems or the incompetence of the right-center government, although it certainly has its share of responsibility. Their roots are not in tradition or the boiling Mediterranean temperament. They are the outcome of a system that has been cornered this autumn and whose values have proven questionable. For how else to interpret the news that John Thain, head of Merrill Lynch, very modestly requested ‘only’ ten million dollars in bonuses for this year? Otherwise, he earns 750 thousand dollars a year, whether it is winter or spring, he received 15 million just to come to Merrill, and his bank survived this autumn only thanks to the grace and money of the state. While the world teeters on the brink of the abyss, in whose creation his bank played one of the leading roles, he was preparing to calmly take a multi-million dollar bonus. The fact that he ultimately, under intense public pressure, renounced the bonus does not mean much. Such behavior may trigger some future unrest, as there is no doubt that the crisis will further escalate and that the next year will be very difficult. The unrest from Greece can easily spill beyond its borders, and many European countries fear that this will indeed happen, as the youth in many European cities have already shown solidarity with the Greeks. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is rightly concerned about the possible development of a similar situation in France, especially in light of the riots in Paris and other French cities in 2005.