0 `06

The first warm days in Athens are infused with a melancholy. Greece’s reputation as the cradle of Europe is crumbling like the Acropolis.

0.21

In Kolonaki, the fashionable quarter of the nouveau riche, the coffee houses are well attended. Everything seems to go on as usual. But there is only one topic of discussion: Who will bear the brunt of the severe austerity packages, which must be implemented in Greece?

0:40

For Greece's young generation the future looks bad. The mood is tense.

0 `43

After all, it is not only the autonomous who go to the barricades. A whole generation have vented their frustrations through frequent street riots.

Bad schools, unemployment, low wages have mixed a dangerous political cocktail.

1:06

Since late 2008, the Greek youth have been restless. At that time, a 15-year-old was killed by police bullets.

Since then, there has been anarchy on the streets of Greece. 

1 `25 (Mark) OT Alexis Tsipras, Left Alliance Syriza, hope for the boys

"The youth have spoken out, but their message has not been heard.  As riots have brought chaos to the Greek streets in recent months they have been disregarded. Yet at demonstrations they are shouting slogans such as, “you give money to the banks and we will give them bullets.”

1 `49

For years, the district of Exarchia has been considered a retreat from the anarchists. Yet now the instigators of the demonstrations live here.

The district is often referred to as "Anarchia". It is considered to be a forbidden city for the police. Security officials and journalists who dare to come here are insulted and driven away.

2 `21

The Cafe Floral: the town initiative ’Action-generation 700’ was founded here, in reference to the 700 euros that a graduate will earn each month at best. They discuss the fact that nowhere else in the EU are so many 16-25 year olds unemployed as they are in Greece. Especially for young women, there is little reason for optimism. 

2 `44 Marianna Tsagari OT (Esther Csabo)

"We women have huge problems, because we are exploited twice. As a woman, we are poorly paid and often on temporary contracts. Equally there is hardly any financial support from the state to stay at home with the children." 

3 `02 OT Vasilis Gnafakis (Couzin)

"Yes, the youth here are very angry. This also has to do with the fact that the state sets a high value on private education. Anyone who has no money has no chance. I attended a state vocational school, and then had an expensive private school funding, in order to stand a chance at the job market. " 

3 `27 OT Maro Toubanaki (Female)

"We can’t move out of our parent’s homes - I'm still living with my mum & dad. We cannot live on what we earn. (3 sec) The whole life-plan is thrown overboard; no one has really recognized our needs. "

3 `47

Katja Jaeckel leads the Academic Exchange Service in Athens. It gives university places in Germany. The list of applicants is enormous. Studying abroad increases opportunities back at home.

4 `00 OT Katja Jaeckel, DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service, Athens

(slowly)

It is a generation that is suppressed by the parents. In the morning the children go to public school where they learn nothing, and in the afternoon they go to private school where they need to learn what was not learned in school. They sit up at night until 11 or 12, day in and day out, for years. This youth has no youth, has no free time. And suddenly these young people go into the street and rebel, not only against society, but against their own parents and teachers.

4 `40

The whole country is covered by a deep economic crisis of confidence. A general strike paralysed the country for a day. There is a 220 billion foreign debt burden on the state budget.

On banners, the Greeks ask the question – how does the government intend to fight corruption and tax evasion in the future? Athens has given itself until 2012 to get its deficit back under control. Brussels has placed them under scrutiny and is demanding they regain financial order. 

5 `15 OT Savas Robolis, economist, University of Athens (Couzyn)

"The EU should help Greece and other countries, because that would strengthen the cohesion of the community. In the EU there should not just be solidarity if all goes well, if there are no problems. (5 sec) Europe must also help if there are deficits and unemployment. "

5 `43

In the media, a critical discussion on tax evasion and corruption has begun. Newspaper journalist Paschos Mandravelis writes about it in his column.

5 `59 OT Paschos Mandravelis commentator newspaper" Kathimerini "(Waibel)

"The economic crisis has made another problem even more clear; namely, corruption. This is the scourge of society - the country is deeply corrupt, on all levels. (4 sec) Laws are violated daily by the citizens. The Greeks think the laws don’t apply to them, only others."

6 `28 Night demo

The radicals and anarchists have long ignored the country’s laws and social practices. They are now spearheaded by the youth movement and are determined to make their voice heard, even with violence. 

 

 

 

6 `46 OT Jaecke

(slowly)

We are dealing here in this country with a large so-called brain drain. That is, the brightest minds in the country are leaving because they have no opportunities here.  Immediately after school they go abroad; some 60,000 young Greeks are leaving to study elsewhere. And not all who receive a good education abroad are coming back.

7 `20

Anna Maria Droubouki is a historian with a formidable academic training at several European universities. She does not condone these demonstrations of violence, but she feels solidarity with the demonstrators. She like many others quietly resigned, because she believes she has no future in her own country. 

7 `43 OT Annamaria Droubouki, historian (Noemi)

"The problem for my generation are the salaries. With 700 euros you can hardly do anything. Then the jobs are mostly only part-time work. You have to wait until you are at least 35 to find a decent job. (3 sec) To establish a family is out of the question. I'm still living with my parents. When I started studying at age 18, I wouldn’t have thought my life at 30 would be anything like this. "

 8 `18

In Greece what starts as a harmless skirmish often turns into a more serious confrontation. The youth are always challenging the establishment.

And as the crisis escalates in Greece, other countries may follow. In Portugal, Spain and Italy tensions are also brewing. In the current economic climate it is becoming harder to placate an increasingly volatile society.