Soccer violence claims another life
Kathimerini English Edition
Kathimerini English Edition is a daily newspaper published and distributed along with the International New York Times.
By Constantine Capsaskis
Newsletter Editor
Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition.?A 29-year-old man was killed on Monday?during a violent skirmish between supporters of AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb ahead of their UEFA Champions League qualifying match.
Greece is no stranger to sport-related violence. The trial over the murder of 19-year-old Alkis Kampanos who was killed in Thessaloniki in February 2022 by supporters of a rival club?was only just concluded last month.
However, what is particularly striking about the violence on Monday are the apparent failings of the Hellenic Police?to properly consider and implement appropriate measures to prevent it, in this case, because one party to the violence were an estimated 100 to 120 known Croatian football hooligans who travelled to Athens on buses?despite warnings from both the Croatian and Montenegrin police forces.?
In fact,?Montenegro even supplied the Hellenic Police with the license plates of the buses?the Dinamo Zagreb fans were moving on. There were almost no checks at the Kakavia border crossing, with the police later?losing track of the convoy until it had almost reached the AEK stadium. With no police stationed there, only small units responded to the violence immediately with most officers arriving approximately half an hour after the clashes began.
Kathimerini’s Yiannis Souliotis writes of the?chronic inefficiencies of the Greek police, that have been?exacerbated by intra-departmental strife?and a?lack of co-ordination. The bulletins sent by the Hellenic Police headquarters for the surveillance of the hooligans, that were delayed in being issued, were?either not read or read with substantial delay by regional services.
On Tuesday, newly appointed Citizen Protection Minister Giannis?Oikonomou announced that seven senior police officers had been suspended from their posts?in the aftermath of the violence, including the head of the Sub-Directorate for Violence in Sports.?Investigations are ongoing, with the minister announcing that there would be further removals.
The?opposition has raised questions of ministerial responsibility, with both main opposition SYRIZA and PASOK calling for the resignation of Oikonomou who assumed his post on July 29 after his predecessor Notis Mitarakis was forced to resign.
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OPINION
The difficult first 50 days of the new government
By Tom Ellis
Editor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition
The first 50 days of New Democracy’s second term in power?have been difficult for the government and painful for the country.
From the wildfires and the lack of coordination between the police and firefighting services, to the explosions of bombs and missiles at the New Aghialos airbase, to the gradual return of skyrocketing inflation and, more recently, the tip of the iceberg that was the?disgraceful inability of the Greek authorities to prevent the orchestrated criminal acts?of Croat hooligans and their Greek collaborators that resulted in the death of one person, serious injuries of many others and a lot of property damages – the outcome is indeed a sad one.
The absence of meaningful political opposition – due to its weak performance in the recent elections – has created a situation where the ruling conservative New Democracy party is?competing with itself and the image of a results-oriented governance it projected?during the campaign in the spring.
It cannot blame SYRIZA or PASOK for the weak leadership shown in many ministries and the lack of coordination between different services.
In just a few weeks, at the Thessaloniki International Fair, the prime minister?will be forced to defend a shaky start to his second term; and that is just a month ahead of the regional and municipal elections and nine months before the European Parliament polls.
It’s been rough going for the new government; and the road ahead might prove a bumpy one.
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Prices continue to rise with a steep jump in the rate of inflation in July to 2.5% from 1.8% in June. Inflation has been boosted by the continued food inflation, running at an annual pace of 12.3% in July. The price of some items has risen by 28% since the start of the year, and in July alone prices of certain foodstuffs have gone up by as much as 6.67%. The prospects for de-escalation of the situation are not promising, with early August trends pointing to further rises. Indicatively, the Greek bakers’ association has announced that flour producers told them of a seven to ten percent increase in prices. Further price hikes are also expected for olive, sunflower, and palm oil.
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15/08/2023
Dormition of the Virgin Mary:?One of the most important religious holidays on the Greek Orthodox Calendar, the national holiday is associated with many traditional customs,?particularly on the island of Tinos.
16/08/2023
Soccer violence meetings: Prime Minister Kyriakos?Mitsotakis will meet with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin?and then will chair a meeting with relevant ministers and the owners of Greece’s four largest teams?to discuss the incidents of violence in sporting events.
19/08/2023
AEK-Dinamo Zagreb: UEFA set the date for the postponed Champions League qualifying match, with kick-off at 9.45 at AEK’s OPAP Arena.
PODCAST
This year marks the centenary of the Lausanne Treaty, a treaty that has survived several twists and turns in world history. Bruce Clark, a contributor to The Economist and the author of “Twice A Stranger: How Mass Expulsion Forged Modern Greece and Turkey” and “Athens, City of Wisdom,” joins Thanos Davelis to look at what the Treaty of Lausanne has meant on either side of the Aegean.