Stop this wave of violence
Yesterday’s rampage by hooded youths in the centers of both Athens and Thessaloniki, where they smashed shop windows in the middle of the day while people were out about their business, should indicate to us that we are traveling down the slippery road of arbitrary violence and targeted terrorism at breakneck speed. Ever since last December, when a policeman’s fatal shooting of a teenage boy in Exarchia sparked days of widespread riots all around the country, we have been experiencing an escalation of such phenomena that seems unstoppable. The responsibility for taking control of this situation now lies squarely in Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’s lap and he needs to start taking the necessary decisions to do so right now. The people who were responsible for the events of last December and who continue to manage the Greek police today must prove that something has changed in the manner in which they deal with such situations, as well as the need to show results. Otherwise, they may as well pack up and go home, because this situation can continue no longer.
