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Greece - Political Violence

Like other countries that are members of the Schengen Agreement for free cross-border movement, Greece’s open borders with other members of the EU’s Schengen zone allow for the possibility of terrorist groups entering/exiting the country with anonymity. As the first entry point into Schengen from points south and east, Greece’s long coastline and many islands increase the possibility that foreign-based terrorists might try to enter Europe through its borders.

Several domestic terrorist groups have been active in Greece since the restoration of democracy in 1974, including the 17 November (17N) and the ELA organizations and more recently, Revolutionary Struggle (RS), Sect of Revolutionaries, and the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei (CFN). U.S. and western government and commercial interests, as well as prominent Greek businessmen, journalists and politicians have at times been targeted by these groups.

Greek domestic terrorism stems from radical leftist and anarchist ideologies that developed in reaction to the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. Shortly after the dictatorship’s collapse, radical leftist elements emerged to form Greece’s two most notorious terrorist groups, Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N) and Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA).

17N’s first major operation was the assassination of CIA Chief of Station Richard Welch in 1975. For the next 27 years, 17N was Greece’s most lethal terrorist group, killing at least 23 individuals, including four Americans. ELA appeared in 1975 and became Greece’s most active terrorist organization, conducting approximately 250 attacks against a wide range of targets. ELA claimed its last operation in 1994. Following a botched attack, Greek authorities largely eliminated 17N in 2002 under pressure to stem terrorism prior to the 2004 Olympic Games.

In 2002, the Greek police arrested 19 suspected members of 17N and four suspected members of ELA. Most of these individuals were convicted and sentenced to lengthy jail terms or life sentences. In 2003, 15 members of the terrorist organization, which since 1975 had killed many prominent Greeks and five U.S. Mission employees, were found guilty and convicted of a number of crimes, including homicide. A group appeals trial for fifteen 17N convicts and two previously acquitted individuals opened in December 2005. The defendants exhausted their appeals in the Greek legal system in 2010.

In 2007, an appellate court acquitted two of the defendants, but otherwise largely upheld the results of the initial trial, leaving the leadership of the defunct group serving multiple life sentences and others serving long prison terms. In mid-May 2007, the appeals court upheld the stiff prison sentences of the leading 17N convicts. Several less significant 17N figures had either been acquitted, had their prosecutions time-barred under Greek law, were released for medical reasons, or were released after their sentences were reduce to time served. In January 2008, the last incarcerated member of ELA was released on bail due to claims of ill health. He served approximately five years of a 25 year sentence.

A new generation of terrorist groups subsequently emerged, the three most prominent of which were Revolutionary Struggle (EA), Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei (SPF), and Sect of Revolutionaries (SE).

Revolutionary Struggle (RS / EA), an anti-establishment radical leftist group, conducted a number of high-profile terrorist operations against Greek and Western interests after its emergence in 2003, including a bomb explosion in May 2006, near the residence of the former Minister of Public Order, but police have made no arrests in the case. Police officials have not closed their investigation into the 2004 killing of a Greek Special Guard at his post outside the residence of the British Defense Attaché. On January 12, 2007, terrorists fired a rocket-propelled grenade that struck the U.S. Embassy but caused no injuries. The terrorist group Revolutionary Struggle later claimed responsibility for the act. Revolutionary Struggle also claimed responsibility for a number of other attacks on Greek officials, police, financial institutions, and other targets. RS has been linked to a number of subsequent attacks, including a January 5, 2009 machine gun patrol in Athens.

Greek authorities largely disrupted the group’s operations in 2010. In April 2010, police arrested six suspected members of Revolutionary Struggle, and discovered hideouts containing bombs, rocket launchers, attack plans, and other evidence connected with the group. In mid-2012 the group’s ringleader, Nikos Maziotis, and his girlfriend violated the terms of their release pending trial and disappeared. Maziotis—who was recaptured by Greek police in July 2014—has since been linked to a number of bank robberies. In April 2014, EA claimed responsibility for a car-bombing outside the Bank of Greece in Athens to protest Greece’s return to international markets, its first attack since 2009.

Attacks by self-styled anarchists have increased in the last few years. Anarchists attacked what they call "imperialist-capitalist targets" with tools such as firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Since these attacks typically occurred in the middle of the night, only a few people have been seriously injured and there have been no deaths. Several U.S. businesses have been targeted. In December 2008, large-scale rioting broke out following the death of a young student in an encounter with the police. Anarchists and students attacked and destroyed police stations and businesses.

After a lower operational tempo for a few days, rioting in certain hotspots in central Athens increased 18 December 2008 in a day that many Greeks considered among the worst recent days of violence and destruction. Striking civil servants closed government offices and the Athens airport for several hours. A demonstration near central Syntagma square become violent when anarchists joined the group and began to challenge police with Molotov cocktails and rocks. When protestors attempted to burn down the City of Athens' Christmas tree (which had been hastily replaced after the first tree was destroyed in the previous weekend's violence), riot police intervened.

SPF, an anarchist group, claimed responsibility for a 2010 parcel bomb campaign that targeted international leaders and institutions outside Greece, a first for Greek domestic terrorists. A series of arrests from late 2010 through 2011 against the group’s leadership temporarily crippled SPF’s operations. In June 2013, however, SPF claimed responsibility for a bomb attack against the car of the director of Korydallos prison—where many domestic terrorists are currently held—promising more attacks and declaring a common front with other like-minded groups and the international Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front. In April 2014, SPF claimed responsibility for a parcel bomb targeting a police station.

Sect of Revolutionaries claimed responsibility for shooting attacks on police, including the murder of an anti-terrorist unit officer in June 2009, as well as the murder of a Greek journalist in July 2010. Radical leftist SE last acted in 2010 after a 13-month hiatus to assassinate a Greek journalist outside of his Athens home, having assassinated a Hellenic Police officer in 2009. SE has not claimed an attack since 2010.

Also on April 22, 2009, the Secretary revoked the FTO designation of the Revolutionary Nuclei (RN) after completing the five year review of the FTO designation required by Section 219 of the INA. The Secretary concluded that the circumstances that were the basis for the prior designation of RN as an FTO have changed in such a manner to warrant revocation of the FTO designation.

Largely unknown groups in 2012 claimed an attempt on the Athens metro using a crude incendiary device and an incendiary attack that severely damaged Microsoft offices in Athens. Attacks continued in 2013-14, including a spate of arson attacks against journalists’ homes and government offices, a bombing at The Mall in Athens, violence between anarchists and the rising extreme-right party Golden Dawn, and gunmen firing on the residence of the German ambassador in Athens. Other groups active in the last year included the Group of Popular Rebels (OLA) and the Zero Tolerance Organization (ZTO). In March 2010, the "December 6" terrorist organization claimed responsibility for a bomb attack that killed a 15-year-old Afghan immigrant. In June 2010 an aide to the Minister of Citizen Protection was killed when he opened a package addressed to the Minister. A domestic terrorist group called Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei (SPF) claimed responsibility for a number of bomb attacks of varying size between 2008 and 2010. Authorities arrested 26 SPF suspects for offenses that included sending over a dozen parcel bombs to foreign embassies in Athens and political leaders in Europe in late 2010, and bombings at the residences of both ND and PASOK politicians. Six suspects had been convicted, another five were acquitted or charges dropped, and the rest were awaiting trial as of late 2011.

Terrorist activity in Greece decreased during 2011, continuing the trend of Greek authorities successfully dismantling groups that had been active from the 1970s to the late 2000s. Only three planned bomb attacks in 2011 appear to have had the potential to cause major damage, and all were discovered or defused with no injuries; the last such attempt was in March 2011. Nonetheless, it is assumed that some members of RS and CFN are still at large, and no suspected members of Sect of Revolutionaries had been apprehended. Despite the downturn in serious terrorist incidents in 2011, the risk of “being in the wrong place at the wrong time” in the event of a terrorist action remains a concern for residents and visitors. Although terrorist attacks still remain below their peak levels in the 1980s the potential for political violence still exists.

Strikes and demonstrations are a regular occurrence. Greece is a stable democracy and these activities for the most part are orderly and lawful, although early 2012 protests signaled an uptick in the level of violence with extensive fire-bombings and vandalism in Central Athens. The Greek populace has voiced increasing anger at the government’s austerity push, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets in Athens in violent protests ahead of parliament’s 12 February 2012 vote on austerity measures. At least 45 buildings were torched in the Athens rioting, including one of the capital’s oldest cinemas. The anti-government protesters smashed and looted dozens of stores and cafes.

A wave of incidents that started in December 2008 when a teenager was shot and killed in an encounter with police was marked by violent confrontations with the police and destructive vandalism and rioting, , including areas frequented by tourists, injuring numerous police officers. The subsequent anniversaries of the event have been marked by demonstrations. In May 2010, three bank employees were killed when anarchists participating in a general strike-related demonstration fire-bombed their bank. Demonstrations also occur annually on November 17, the anniversary of the 1973 student uprising against the military regime in power at the time.

As a result of austerity measures imposed by the government, labor unions, certain professions, and other groups affected by the current financial crisis hold frequent demonstrations, work-stoppages, and marches throughout the center of Athens. Strikes in the transportation sector often affect traffic and public transportation, to include taxis, ports, and airports; most are of short duration.

Although most demonstrations are peaceful, anarchist groups are known to infiltrate demonstrations to create chaos. Violent anarchist groups often join public demonstrations to clash with police and vandalize public and private property. In Athens, violent anarchists often gather in the Athens University or Polytechnic University areas or the Exarchia or Omonia Squares in Athens before marching toward the city center, particularly to Syntagma Square. In Thessaloniki, the most prominent anarchist gathering areas are the Arch of Galerius (Kamara) and Aristotle University Campus.

In November 2016, the Rubicon group anarchists in Thessaloniki performed a flash demonstration in front of the U.S. Consulate’s main door after an unsuccessful attempt to enter. Riot control methods include the use of tear gas/water cannon.