VIOLENCE RETURNED to the streets of Athens yesterday as hundreds of hooded youths hurled petrol bombs, chunks of marble hacked from buildings and other projectiles at police during a nationwide, 24-hour strike.
Across the country, government offices shut, ferry boats and trains stood still, and hospitals operated on a skeleton staff.
Airports, however, remained open to international and domestic flights.
The general strike – the third this year – was called by the country’s private and public sector trade union federations to protest the adoption of a new package of austerity measures by Greece’s Socialist government.
The violence flared shortly after noon, after demonstrators arrived at Syntagma square in central Athens, where another group of protesters, styling themselves the “Indignant”, have held daily mass peaceful protests against the government’s austerity programme since May 25th.
Police responded to the missiles hurled by youths with tear gas and stun grenades. The violent scenes fuelled the indignation of the peaceful protesters, who felt that their movement was being hijacked and discredited by the hoodlums.
“We were sure the violent element would reappear,” said lawyer Elektra Galati (31), who said she had attended numerous Indignant protests in recent weeks.
“People from our side tried to chase them off Syntagma square but they too came under attack,” she added.
Greek media would later display photographs and amateur video footage showing individuals gathering projectiles in shopping trolleys while riot police looked on.
Minor opposition parties later described the attacks by the hooded protesters as a provocation designed to undermine the peaceful Indignant protests.
By evening, peaceful demonstrators had reclaimed the square, clearing it of debris.
The authorities said that 30 people, including five policemen, had been injured in the protests and hospitalised.
Among those was well-known investigative journalist Tassos Telleloglou, who was punched in the face by a demonstrator.
Police said they detained 25 people and arrested 16.
Earlier, plans by the Indignants to form a human chain around the Greek parliament to prevent MPs from entering were prevented after police erected steel and perspex barriers safeguarding the entrance to the building, which overlooks Syntagma square.
However, MPs driving through police cordons to reach parliament came under a torrent of abuse from members of the public who lined the streets, with water bottles lobbed at prime minister George Papandreou’s official car shortly before noon.
The beleaguered Socialist leader was on his way to an extraordinary meeting, announced the previous evening, with the country’s president, Karolos Papoulias, to discuss political solutions to the country’s crisis.
Before the meeting, Mr Papandreou stressed that a “broader sense of unity and support” was necessary in order for the country to exit the crisis, fuelling rumours that the Socialist prime minister would seek to form a coalition government with opposition parties.
News of the meeting led the country’s journalists’ federation to end at noon the media’s participation in the strike.
Mr Papandreou subsequently phoned the leaders of all six parliamentary parties.
Unnamed government sources later confirmed rumours that Mr Papandreou, in his conversation with conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, had said he was prepared to step down if this would facilitate the formation of an all-party coalition government.