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Victoria Mindova

On the first day of the strike against the mid-term recovery plan Syntagma Square once again was buried in tear gas and protesters. While lawmakers are getting acquainted with the text of the final version of the financing plan for Greece for the next four years, the next episode of the "Urban Wars" series is taking place on the square in front of the National Assembly. This time it resulted into three injured policemen, one injured citizen, two broken media vans and millions of pieces of broken paving stones.

"We will not leave the square," cried ordinary citizens who did not participate in the clashes with the police, but had come to protest against the new measures of higher taxes. The 48-hour strike of the trade unions of state and private employees made the citizens of Greece go out on the central squares in the cities of the country. Tens of thousands of people united to show that they disagree with the policies of Prime Minister George Papandreou. There were serious incidents in Athens and Thessaloniki, initiated mainly by anarchist groups. The protest in Patras was calmer as the trade unions did not gather more than five thousand people.

The main stage of the protests again was Athens, where riots started still at noon. The police cordons tried to split the anarchist groups and the hooligans from the movement of the discontented by using tear gas which covered the square outside the Parliament with a burning white blanket. The subway exit at Syntagma filled with tear gas that covered the protesters who tried to escape from the suffocating wave. Panicked tourists, who had not realized the seriousness of the protests this time, were running through the streets around the hotels in the area, looking for somewhere to hide.

At the subway exit, activists from the movement of the discontented with mouth masks and goggles were telling the people how to protect from the chemical bombs of the police, giving first aid to the needy. They were giving facial anti-acid serum, which significantly reduces the effects of tear gas and water to help those who had inhaled chemical agents to clean their mouths.

Buses, trolleys, trams and the electric train are not running due to the strike, and the main thoroughfares in the city centre are closed for cars. The only way to get to Syntagma is on foot or by subway, where the eyes begin to pinch still on the platform of the central stop. However, people continue to flock in the centre to join the protest. The Greeks know very well the tactics of the riot forces and most of them are prepared for the protest.

Those who have no gas masks are supplied with towels or surgical masks to stop the first wave of tear gas to enter the body. Many of them also have diving goggles that protect the eyes. "The wind today is blowing for the police," said one discontented in front of the Parliament. Air flows are dispersing the released tear gas to the two square levels and people are scattering. Many of the anarchists who are the main opponents of the police are hiding for a moment near the tents of the discontented, and then are going back to the war on the street with stones and Molotov.

Discontented Greeks from Thessaloniki, Patras and other provincial cities are expected to come to Athens to take part in the protest on the second day of the strike. The protesters are planning to move by buses and motorcycles. The trade unions and the discontented have decided to surround the parliament building to prevent the vote on the mid-term recovery program. Protests are expected to be even stronger and violence on the streets of the capital to continue.

Meanwhile, Greek journalists announced they will also take part in the strike and will not work between 11 am and 5 pm, according to initial information. Unlike other protests, cameras and local reporters are not seen this time. Most reports are broadcasted from a distance – either from rooms rented in hotels located on Syntagma Square, or from the roofs of nearby buildings.