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At the height of the pandemic, Athens enacted a new law, sparking controversy with universities. Students and faculty are fighting for their rights, says DW.
A plaque has been hung in front of the dean’s office of Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Several hundred students keep the building locked – in the building that is usually empty due to the pandemic. Almost as many police officers stand in front of students on campus. Students demonstrate against a recently passed law, which provides for police officers to be deployed in the university corps. With this the government intends to react to the alleged criminal actions in the universities. But many think that in fact behind this move, there are other motives. Professors and students are now fighting for their rights to freedoms, drawing attention to the important role of universities in the history of Greece.
Fotini Tsibiridou, a professor at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, is one of 1,000 academics protesting the law: “I fear a military culture that could be introduced into the university along with the police. “This does not fit into the basis of freedom of dialogue and critical thinking,” she said. DW says the police presence more creates the image of cultural oppression. Tsibiridous’s words echo a cultural war that has dominated Greek political and social life for decades. The invasion of Greece by Hitler’s Wehrmacht culminated in a bloody civil war, which took place between left-wing partisans in northern Greece and the conservative government in Athens.
Since then the left and the right face irreconcilably in Greece. The New Democracy government is the only one with this new law. Most university administrations, even the conservative university in Athens itself, the police union, and members of New Democracy, oppose the deployment of police officers to universities. Universities have submitted a proposal to the government: They are looking for a private bodyguard in the corps.
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