January 5, 2009
Kyle Kubler
Last month, riots have been raging in Athens, Greece, due to the police shooting of 15 year-old Alexandors Gringoropoulos. The riots began in the Exarchia district of Athens, fueled by local anarchist groups. Shops have been burned and police cars have been toppled. So far, an estimated 70 people have been injured with more than 400 people detained.
In some sense, the riots have been a success. They’ve drawn international attention, and put pressure on the Athens Police Force to make some serious changes. Yet, I have a feeling that if these riots go on any longer, the original righteous cause will be lost amongst the rioters. While the original cause for the riots was the death of a Greek teenager, many dissidents of the government have taken this opportunity to express their dissatisfaction. This brings up the question; were the riots ever about the shooting of Gringoropoulos? Or was this just the incident that leftist political parties were looking for? Reports from eye-witnesses have shown that most of the buildings damaged in the riots have been up-scale department stores and banks. The focus on upper-class shops can be attributed to anti-establishment leftist groups who view the stores with adversity.
With the opposition party, PASOK, calling for elections, it’s easy to see why the current conservative government isn’t popular. PASOK has been combining forces with labor unions and the unemployed youth, in order to put pressure on the government. The current administration has a long history of corruption and slow economic growth, most of which came from entrance into the European Union. The conservatives were hoping to release a new economic plan to battle current global economic crisis, but the riots have effectively stopped this procedure. Without the enactment of the new economic plan, 100,000 lost jobs are foreseen at the beginning of the New Year. The unfortunate timing of the riots has put a damper on the holiday shopping season, only increasing Greece’s economic woes.
Whatever the future holds for Athens, any viable economic gain will take some time. Weather it comes from early elections or a harder handed conservative administration, the change and turmoil can be directly attributed to the riots and death of Alexandros Gringoropoulos.
