by Aggelos Skordas
Members of the anti-establishment Rouvikonas group stormed into the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of Northern Greece in downtown Thessaloniki on Thursday morning, only 48 hours ahead of Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras scheduled speech at Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). The annual fair is traditionally the event during which the Prime Minister and other top government officials and ministers present the budget and their financial program for the year ahead.
The yet undisclosed number of anarchists stormed into the building, threw flyers calling for “war on the war of the bosses” while stating that they belong to the anarchist group. Before leaving the premises uninterrupted the group hoisted a banner with the slogan “social and class struggle against exploitation, oppression and war”.
In a post on an anti-establishment website, the members of Rouvikonas called on the residents of Thessaloniki to participate in Saturday’s demonstrations, while they characterized TIF as “a public relations stunt, not because we say so, but because reality itself proves it to be so”.
A few hours following the raid in Thessaloniki, the Ministry of Agricultural Development in central Athens was also targeted by members of the anti-establishment group. The protestors threw similar flyers in the building and rushed out. No arrests were made.
It should be noted that within the last few days police presence in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, is increased on the fear of massive demonstrations and violent incidents. Additional riot police squads have been arriving in the city from nearby areas as well as from Athens. Some 20 countries and 1,500 companies will participate in TIF, while the United States Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is scheduled to head an American business delegation. The United States is this year’s honoured country.
