By Dora Antoniou

The student parade in central Athens, in front of the monument to the Unknown Soldier, is in the spotlight today, in the wake of the conflict caused last week by the fierce confrontation centered on the government’s amendment to change the framework and powers around the monument and the area in front of it.

“The law will apply” the government representative explained yesterday in every direction, who added that the specific amendment has already been published in the Government Gazette “so it’s in effect”. He added that “The Greek Police have a specific plan. No one will be exempt” and clarified that “The presence of anyone there is not prohibited, but any gathering that goes beyond the purpose for which this sacred monument is there, rallies, the various so-called solidarists, who stand next to pained people to do their revolutionary exercise, actions that have nothing to do with the Sacred Monument of the Unknown Soldier, will not be permitted under any circumstances by the Greek Police. I say it again, we will see all this implemented in the next few days.”

The statements of the government representative are a clear message from the government that the repetition of situations that we recently saw in the area in front of the monument will not be allowed from now on. It remains to be seen if today, on the occasion of the student parade, some kind of activist action will be attempted at the site and how the police will react to such an eventuality. The president of Freedom Sailing, Zoe Konstantopoulouhad mentioned in Parliament, during the discussion of the amendment, that she herself would be at the scene together with relatives of the victims.

In the wake of the attack received by the former minister Makis Voridis in Chania, there is concern as to whether an escalation of the tension is being sought in a targeted and organized manner. Mr. Pavlos Marinakis reported yesterday that “a very large part of the political system wants us to revive such days of division: of the upper and lower square, of the indignant”.

Attention is also directed to a second front, this of rural mobilizationswhich may take place today, focusing on parades in every region of the country. The delays in the payment of subsidies as a result of the OPEKEPE scandal and the additional controls that have been demanded by the European Authorities and the uncertainty of when they will finally be paid, combined with the inability to control the smallpox of goats and sheep, which has caused enormous damage to the livestock population, are causing escalating reactions throughout the country.