Πέμπτη 28 Μαρτίου 2024
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Why Rouvikonas has immunity, acts without consequences

Why Rouvikonas has immunity, acts without consequences

Many maintain that Rouvikonas enjoys and odd immunity given to it by the government. New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis shares this view

Anarchists are not known for their interest in the details of the political confluence of events. Their general opposition to the establishment means that clashes between political parties and timely issues do not concern them. What they express, with the exceptions of actions of solidarity with someone or something, is to express a general opposition to “the state and capital”.

In that sense, the anarchist group Rouvikonas is an exception to the rule of not monitoring current events. It follows current events and attempts to respond with some intervention.

Is there an issue with defaulted loans? Then they intervene at a notary’s office. Is there a case of a patient being forced to pay a doctor a bribe at a state hospital? Then they threaten the doctor. Is there a foreign policy issue? Then they throw paint at the foreign ministry building.

There is a specific modus operandi in their actions. They conduct brief raid-type attacks, focusing on the symbolism, without violence against individuals, and with a limit to the material damage done.
They tread on the thin line which allows conservatives to cry out against lawlessness, but not to charge them with terrorist acts.

Thus, they manage to trigger a barrage of opposition party statements or comments by the anti-government press about how they can pursue their agenda “unhindered”. For its part, the government says it cannot put down “activism” and “protests”.

When SYRIZA conducts a dialogue with Rouvikonas

The government’s stance towards Rouvikonas seems ambivalent.

On the one had it offers assurances about maintaining order. As Citizens’ Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said, “This group is acting at the margins of legality, and when it crosses the line it faces consequences.”

On the other hand, there is the sense that the government is conducting a peculiar political dialogue with this organisation. Remarking on the latest attacks against the Psychiko tax bureau and the foreign ministry, Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas said that, “Many of their actions raise many questions about the objectives of this group. I do not see them as activists. Mass social action brings results. All else can lead to difficult situations. Rouvikonas is a very peculiar political group which seeks to present a narrative, but its actions do not contribute to a normal direction of social life.”

Immunity and political calculation
Many maintain that Rouvikonas enjoys and odd immunity given to it by the government. New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis shares this view. He has been targeted by the group. “Rouvikonas is liked by the government because they have the same ideological origins. On the island of Tinos, a mayor cooperating with police and the Coast Guard arrested Rouvikonas members, whereas in Athens, which is full of riot police, Rouvikonas parades around with the provocative toleration of the ministry,” Mitsotakis said.

Even if one does not adopt the view that there is an ideological and political continuity between SYRIZA and an anarchist group, one can reasonably assume that for the government, an organisation whose violations are attributed to “activism”, is preferable to confronting a new generation of very violent and decisive terrorists. That could explain a certain level of “tolerance”.

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Πέμπτη 28 Μαρτίου 2024