Photo: tovima.gr
Greek strikes followed by acts of violence are no longer surprising to anybody in the world. International media, together with GRReproter were on the scene to track how far tensions around the 48-hour nationwide strike would escalate. "It would be interesting if we had not seen violence", said CNN. The title of the agency, describing yet another strike drama, is, "Clashes as Greek strikers aim to shut down nation in protest." The introduction of the first bailout in the spring of 2010 was accompanied by serious unrest and violence in the streets. The same happened with even greater force this July, when the second rescue plan, known as the decisions of the summit of July 21, was adopted in Brussels.
Mild definitions are no longer used for the Greek crisis, and foreign correspondents are paying particular attention to the general feeling in the country, impressed by the increased aggressiveness and discontent of the majority of ordinary people. "Mother of all strikes" paralyzed Greece, reads the French magazine Le Figaro, and its media counterpart Le Monde focusses on the size of the strike, which is defined as the largest since the 1970s - "In Greece, 120, 000 people protested against austerity measures." The number of protesters changes depending on the journalists’ source of information. Left trade unions were talking about over 100,000 people, whereas the police pointed to significantly fewer.
According to the BBC, the scenes of violence, arson and pieces of pavement thrown at the Parliament and the police officers protecting it, show that Greeks’ patience is wearing thin. The options for further belt-tightening are insignificant and that message is addressed not only to the local government but also to the European Union, which has already been deciding the fate of Greece without Greece itself. The British media describes the events under the title "Greece unrest: Athens clashes amid general strike." They point out that the protesters were around 70,000 people, which corresponds to the information provided by the Greek police.
"Violent anti-austerity protests grip Greek capital," Reuters reports. The news agency also reports that Greek police cleared the square in front of parliament after clashing with black-clad demonstrators during a mass anti-austerity rally organised by the trade unions against the severe government measures. People’s responses are described as a bitter wave of discontent with the vote on a bitterly resented new round of belt-tightening. Al Jazeera also notes, "Violence erupts as strike grips Greece."