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Ivan Petkov

In our latest poll that was associated with the new cases of self-immolations in Bulgaria and of hunger strikes in Greece we asked if these extreme forms of protest make sense. The results are interesting because they reflect not only the opinion and attitudes among our readers, but also the level of despair in society. There is a feeling that the attitude of citizens is "a voice in the wilderness" and the responsible state bodies and institutions do not consider it.

38% of readers of our Bulgarian version believe that extreme forms of protest, such as burning oneself to death and hunger strikes, do not solve problems, and their perpetrators are in urgent need of psychiatric care. The same percentage goes to the answer that these desperate acts are just a pointless loss of life. However, 14% believe that such desperate moves are an expression of belief in the cause that they support and are possible if all other forms of protest have been exhausted. 7% believe that one can cheat while on hunger strike whereas burning oneself to death is a true sacrifice. 3% consider this kind of protest as a way of drawing public attention to problems that society has overlooked.

The highest percentage of the readers of our English version, 38%, believe that hunger strikes and burning oneself to death do not solve any problems and are the work of people who need psychiatric care. 33% believe that this is a pointless waste of human life. 15%, one percentage point more than in the Bulgarian version, support the thesis that extreme forms of protest are possible if one believes in a cause and has exhausted all other alternatives. 13% perceive these acts as drawing attention to the pressing problems that society has overlooked, and 2% support the act of burning oneself to death as a true sacrifice.

Again, 38% of the readers of our Greek version consider these extreme forms of protest as a pointless loss of life. 31% are of the opinion that they draw public attention to problems that society is unwilling to resolve. Different responses by readers who, on the one hand, support hunger strikes and the act of burning oneself to death as an expression of belief in a cause, and on the other consider them as acts of people with mental health problems who seek help through them, have received 15% of the votes.

If we divide the results into two groups and include in the first group the responses that, generally speaking, extreme forms of protest do not make sense and in the second group the answers that they make sense, the results will look like this:

76% of readers of the Bulgarian version of our website do not support such extreme forms of protest and 24% support them;

71% of voters in the English version of the website do not support, and 29% support, such extreme forms of protest;

53% of voters in the Greek version do not support, and 47% support, them.

It is clear that our Greek-speaking readers are more prone to radical actions in support of the cause that they defend. The readers of the other two versions have similar views that are more moderate.

Our next poll is equally pressing and it asks for your opinion on the upcoming early elections: What do you expect from the early elections in Greece on 25 January?