International reactions
As the protests spread abroad, some countries have warned travelers to be cautious.
Australia: Australia warned tourists of possible violent demonstrations.[66] On December 13th a small group of protestors gathered outside the Greek consulate in Melbourne to express their solidarity and to condemn the shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The building of the consulate was also defaced with graffiti earlier that week.[77]
Austria: Aproximately 120 demonstrators protested outside the Greek embassy in Vienna. [78]
Bulgaria: Protests took place in front of the Greek embassy in Sofia.[79]
China: China expressed concern about the safety of its nationals living in Greece.[80]
Cyprus: Riots, demonstrations and clashes also spread to Cyprus. The riots began around midday on December 8, 2008 in the capital Nicosia and the western city of Paphos.[2] In Paphos, student protesters gathered around the city's town hall and the police headquarters where they began verbally abusing the Cypriot police. The protesters also starting throwing rocks at the building, injuring at least one police officer. These violent clashes were met with the arrest of two students.[81] In the city of Larnaca, hundreds of students gathered at the police headquaters where they engaged in demonstrations and "scuffles" in response to the events in Athens.[82] On December 10, Cyprus Airways cancelled a number of flights to both mainland Greece and islands, including to Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion, due to the outbreak of strikes by air traffic controllers and other airport workers.[83]
Denmark: 62 people were arrested in Copenhagen when their protests in support of the Greek rioters allegedly turned violent.[84][85]
France: Protesters entered the Greek consulate in Paris, France. The symbolic occupation was peaceful.[86] 300 demonstrators also gathered outside the Greek embassy in Paris and scuffled with police before partly blocking the Champs-Elysees, the most prestigious avenue in Paris. In Bordeaux, a city in the south of the country, demonstrators set cars alight outside the Greek consulate and wrote graffiti about a looming 'insurrection'.[87]
Germany: On the night of 7 December 2008 and during the following week, spontaneous demonstrations of solidarity took place in numerous German cities, both by left-wing groups of Greek university students studying abroad and local leftist activists. In the first week after the incident, the German Indymedia network had reported demonstrations in 26 German cities, with participation ranging from a few dozen to several hundred people[88], among the biggest being Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden, and Nuremberg.
On 8 December 2008, a group of demonstrators occupied the Greek consulate in Berlin: 30 people pushed their way into the lobby of the consulate at Wittenbergplatz (not the Greek embassy in Berlin, located to the east of the city) in western Berlin at around 9:40 a.m. local time. One of the demonstrators told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the demonstration was in protest against a Greek state that was responsible for the death of the teenager. A consulate spokesman said that there were no plans of having the protesters removed by the German police. The occupation ultimately ended peacefully.[89]
On 12 December more than 1500 demonstrators protested the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Berlin, according to the German police.[90]
Ireland: Over two dozen people in the capital city, Dublin, picketed the Greek embassy in protest at the shooting and in solidarity with the protests.[91]
Italy: Related graffiti were found in Turin near the Greek consulate. Many activists demonstrated in front of the Greek consulate in Bologna.[92] Demonstrations took place also in Florence and in front of the Hellenic Institute for Byzantine Studies in Venice.[93] In Rome, demonstrators burned a garbage bin and threw fire crackers and rocks at police cars trying to stop them reaching the Greek embassy.[94]
Russia: The Greek embassy in Moscow was targeted by firebombers.[84]As a result the Russian police increased security measures around the embassy.[95] On December 13th about 30 activists of "Left Front" participated in a demonstration of solidarity. Approximately 15 people were arrested.[96]
Spain: In Spain, 11 demonstrators were arrested and several policemen injured in clashes in Madrid and Barcelona.[84] Attacks on a police station and a bank by Spanish youths in Madrid and Barcelona also fueled concern about copy-cat protests.[97] In Seville, a relatively small concentration of people in front of police station was announced for 10th December, on evening, since day before, turning into a spontaneous demonstration of over 100 people through streets. Slogans were chored denouncing repressive role from police and State, labelled as "assassin", "violent", "repressor" and "terrorist", as well as for solidarity with Alexandros Grigoropoulos and Greek riots.[98]
Sweden: In Stockholm, aproximately 50 demonstrators protested the killing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos outside the Greek embassy.[99]
Turkey: A dozen left-wing demonstrators daubed red paint on the Greek consulate in Istanbul.[84] Also a large demonstration was organised at December 11 by the EMEP.[100]
United Kingdom: Britain warned tourists of possibly violent demonstrations.[66] On 8 December 2008 in London, up to a hundred protesters clashed with police after trying to storm the Greek embassy in London. A group of anarchist demonstrators tore down the Greek flag from the building in Holland Park and set it on fire.[101] The police have been called to deal with "about 30" young protesters that seem to be mostly students. Currently, the embassy is again working normally, and the situation is calm.[102] Two protests were held in Edinburgh, on December 8 and 10, both involving protest marches up to Castle Street.[103]
United States: On December 10, the Greek consulate in New York was defaced with black graffiti, and a rock was thrown at one of the windows.[104] On December 11, 50 people in the capitol of Washington State, Olympia, marched in solidarity with the Greek revolt. Rocks were thrown at bank windows, resulting in one arrest. [105]
2008 Greek riots - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
