Anti-EU protests in Greek city amid unprecedented security
SALONIKA, June 19: Hundreds of anti-capitalist demonstrators marched through the port city of Salonika on Thursday as EU leaders gathered at a nearby beachside resort amid unprecedented Greek security measures.
Facing the threat of possible terrorism and fears that anarchist protests could turn violent, the Greek authorities have set up a force of some 15,000 police for the three-day summit.
Salonika is expected to bear the brunt of protests as an unprecedented land, air and sea operation by Greek security has turned the area around the summit venue of Porto Carras 150 kilometres away into an impenetrable fortress.
“EU leaders: not just undesirable, they are enemies,” proclaimed a leaflet handed out by demonstrators as about 1,000 anarchists took to the streets of Salonika on Thursday, with heavy rain keeping numbers down.
Protective metal sheets have been erected around shops and banks as locals braced for the arrival of a flood of anti-globalization campaigners in Salonika, Greece’s second largest city.
“It’s a preventive measure, you never know what might happen. As other stores do the same, we didn’t want to expose ourselves,” said Apostolos Boitsis who runs a tool store in the city centre, where riot police and patrol cars were occupying strategic spots. “It’s not the image of the town we wanted to convey, but there is apparently much mistrust,” said Emmanuel Vlachoyiannis, vice-president of the city’s chamber of commerce and industry.
Organizers have forecast a turnout of between 50,000 and 100,000 demonstrators in Salonika over the weekend although police — watchful for rioting that surrounded other international summits — said they expected numbers to be “much smaller”.
“Capitalists, you will pay for the blood of Giuliano,” protestors chanted Thursday, referring to Carlo Giuliano, the man killed by police during demonstrations against the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001.
“According to first estimates around 1,000 anarchists from Greece and abroad have come to town. There are some worries about the attitude of some of them,” a high-ranking police officer said.
“We have information that some Greek anarchists have come with anti-gas masks, which means they have come for trouble,” the source said.
The summit — the last major event of Greece’s EU presidency to be hosted on Greek soil — will be the first serious test of the country’s security apparatus ahead of the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Anti-aircraft missiles have been set up to shoot down any unauthorized aircraft as military helicopters transport EU leaders to the summit site, while 1,000 coastguards are out on the Aegean, keeping away unwanted prowlers with the aid of a metal barrier sunk into the waters off Porto Carras and a three kilometre long metal fence erected around the hotel complex.
Organizers denounced the security measures as provocative. “There are no grounds for such measures. We’re interested in getting as many people as possible on the streets during the demonstrations... such measures put people off,” said Thanassis Balodimas of protest group Action 2003.
Anarchist groups have occupied parts of the Aristotle University of Salonika’s downtown campus, which is off-limits to police due to a so-called “university asylum”.
An eyewitness saw around 150 Greek teenagers occupying two floors of the philosophy faculty, with a banner reading “Black Block attack” hanging from the building although there was no sign of the militant group which is often blamed for triggering violent incidents during protests.—AFP
