Thousands march for school funding in Greece

Public sector workers and teachers joined student protesters, amid growing youth-led demonstrations across Europe.

Milan’s youth follow France in violent cost-of-living protests

Thousands of students and teachers ‌have rallied across cities in Greece, demanding more funding for ⁠education, including better facilities and smaller ⁠class sizes.

The demonstrations echo a wave of youth-led protests across Europe this month, including in France and Albania, where anger over rising costs and alleged corruption has led to clashes with police and major property damage .

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Greek police said about 10,000 demonstrators, including school and university students, rallied peacefully in central Athens and the capital’s suburbs on Wednesday.

“From Greece to France, we want public, free education,” protesters chanted as they gathered outside Parliament, where students staged an overnight sit-in nearby before the rally.

Others joined the protests in Thessaloniki, Patras, Larissa and other cities ⁠across Greece in solidarity with growing demonstrations in France and elsewhere in Europe, where rallies demanding educational resources have morphed into angry demonstrations over soaring living costs.

In Greece, the protests add pressure to ⁠Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his centre-right government as the country prepares to hold elections in mid-2027 amid a weakening economy.

Greece struggled with a serious debt crisis from 2009 to 2018, during which the government agreed to spending cuts in exchange for three European Union and International Monetary Fund bailouts worth about 290 billion euros ($326bn).

But the measures have impacted Greek workers , who are among the poorest in Europe and struggle with stagnant wages, high rents and rising energy costs.

The average monthly salary of 1,500 euros ($1,685) sits at 2009 levels, with many young Greeks having been priced out of housing in ⁠cities by skyrocketing rents.

“Surviving here is very difficult; the ⁠rent is really high, the houses are really small. Our parents can’t make ends meet to pay for our rent, the electricity, for our life here,” university student Georgia Foukidou, 21, who joined the protest in Athens, told the Reuters news agency.

The protests on Wednesday included strikes by primary and secondary school teachers protesting low pay and staff shortages, while substitute teachers demanded permanent positions and reduced class sizes. Public sector workers and other unions also joined the demonstrations.

Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki said prior to the protests that she was listening to student demands, noting that the government was spending more than 733 million euros ($823m) on new student residences and facilities upgrades.

Mitsotakis’ government has also pledged about one billion euros ($1.12bn) in state subsidies and other benefits to offset increased energy costs for households and businesses due to the Iran war and inflation.

在欧洲各地青年主导的示威活动中，公共部门工作人员和教师也加入了学生抗议者的行列。

米兰青年效仿法国，发起暴力抗议，反对生活成本上涨。

希腊各地成千上万的学生和教师举行集会，要求增加教育经费，包括改善教学设施和缩小班级规模。

这些示威活动与本月席卷欧洲的青年领导的抗议浪潮遥相呼应，其中包括法国和阿尔巴尼亚的抗议活动。在这些国家，民众对物价上涨和涉嫌腐败的愤怒情绪导致了与警察的冲突和重大财产损失。

生活成本抗议活动波及比利时、意大利、葡萄牙和法国（列表1/3）

问题 2（共 3 题）：欧洲将如何应对青年主导的抗议活动？

葡萄牙生活成本抗议者重返被警方清理的营地（共3条记录，此为第3条）

希腊警方称，周三约有 1 万名示威者，其中包括中小学生和大学生，在雅典市中心和首都郊区举行了和平集会。

“从希腊到法国，我们想要公共、免费的教育！”抗议者聚集在议会大厦外高喊口号。此前，学生们在集会前在附近进行了通宵静坐示威。

其他人也加入了塞萨洛尼基、帕特雷、拉里萨和希腊其他城市的抗议活动，以声援法国和欧洲其他地区日益高涨的示威活动。在这些地区，要求教育资源的集会已经演变成对生活成本飙升的愤怒示威。

在希腊，随着经济疲软，该国准备在 2027 年年中举行大选，抗议活动给总理基里亚科斯·米佐塔基斯及其中右翼政府带来了更大的压力。

从 2009 年到 2018 年，希腊陷入了严重的债务危机。在此期间，希腊政府同意削减开支，以换取欧盟和国际货币基金组织提供的三笔总额约 2900 亿欧元（3260 亿美元）的救助。

但这些措施对希腊工人造成了影响，他们是欧洲最贫困的群体之一，面临着工资停滞不前、房租高昂和能源成本上涨的困境。

希腊人的平均月薪为 1500 欧元（1685 美元），与 2009 年的水平持平，许多希腊年轻人由于城市租金飞涨而买不起房。

“在这里生活非常艰难；房租很高，房子又很小。我们的父母入不敷出，根本无法支付我们的房租、电费和在这里的生活开销，”21岁的大学生乔治亚·福基杜（Georgia Foukidou）告诉路透社。她也参加了在雅典举行的抗议活动。

周三的抗议活动包括中小学教师罢工，他们抗议工资低和师资短缺；代课教师则要求获得正式职位并缩小班级规模。公共部门工作人员和其他工会也加入了示威活动。

教育部长索菲亚·扎哈拉基在抗议活动之前表示，她正在听取学生的要求，并指出政府正在花费超过 7.33 亿欧元（8.23 亿美元）用于新建学生宿舍和设施升级。

米佐塔基斯政府还承诺提供约 10 亿欧元（11.2 亿美元）的国家补贴和其他福利，以抵消伊朗战争和通货膨胀导致家庭和企业能源成本增加。