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Anastasia Balezdrova

Tension in the centre of Athens is growing. The City Hall building in downtown Athens on Kotsia Square and the Police Department near the Acropolis are in flames.

The buildings of Atikon cinema and Kosta Borda store on Stadiou Avenue are burning. They are located near the branch of Marfin Bank, which was set on fire on 5 May 2010, killing three people, including a pregnant woman. A bank office on Eolou Street is also burning, which is also the headquarters of the National Bank of Greece. On Monastiraki Square anarchists are storming around Attica bank.

The war between protesters and police is being led along the Avenues Panepistimiou, Stadiou and Filelinon and on the streets Voukourestiou, Eolou and Ermou. Strong young men with sweaters with black hoods are destroying windows of shops and restaurants in downtown streets. These scenes are reminiscent of the vandal outrages in Athens in December 2008 when a police bullet killed 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos.

The police are urging people not to move around the centre of Athens, in order to facilitate the movement of ambulances and police patrols to areas where there are people who are wounded and in need of assistance. Greek media reported on clashes between police and demonstrators in the cities of Patras and Thessaloniki. Events in Athens are leading headlines in all world media discussing the debacle in the centre of Athens.

Expect more.