Greece takes stock after a nightmare week

Greece is counting the cost of a week of rioting that has shaken the government and laid bare long simmering social tensions. The protest outside parliament was calm last night, but business leaders say the damage caused in previous days to shops and offices runs into the hundreds of millions of euros.

And it may not be over yet, according to some student protestors. “I think it will continue. I think the people are still anger (sic), as the answers of the politicians until now are very pathetic for me,” said one young woman in Athens.

Another student said: “I don’t believe in these things… that the media shows we are all anarchists. So, we are all anarchists? I don’t know… if someone wants to call all the citizens of Greece anarchists, that is his matter.”

The trouble that began as local demonstrations against the killing by police of a teenager quickly exploded into unrest across the country and beyond. There were more disturbances near the Greek embassy in Paris last night and rallies continued in Germany. The violence is thought to have tapped into anger over low wages, unemployment and unpopular reforms, particularly in education.

Copyright © 2009 euronews

tags: Demonstration, Greece