Support non-profit journalism and perspectives from around the world. See all those languages? The Lingua project at Global Voices works to bring down barriers to understanding through translation. holding a banner that reads: “Let’s resist the profiteering of capital The people's homes are saved by the people Demonstrators in Thessaloniki march with a banner that reads NO HOME IN THE HANDS OF BANKERS!” The banner sheds light on the resistance against financial institutions that not only control people's homes but jeopardize their lives to address non-performing loans (NPLs) by transferring them to private investment funds The plan aimed to clear the balance sheets of Greek banks by offloading bad debts that weren’t being repaid with the Greek state providing guarantees for part of these loans In 2021, the government extended the program under Hercules II, further managing the securitization of bad loans. However, critics argue that, rather than protecting vulnerable households, the plan has increased foreclosures and evictions as funds and banks shift aggressively to recover debts One of the activists steps forward to deliver a speech in solidarity with the elderly couple facing eviction in front of their home in Thessaloniki ERROR: SECURITY TIMEOUT - Please copy your message to a backup location Global Voices stands out as one of the earliest and strongest examples of how media committed to building community and defending human rights can positively influence how people experience events happening beyond their own communities and national borders Please consider making a donation to help us continue this work Donate now Authors, please log in » Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Stay up to date about Global Voices and our mission. See our Privacy Policy for details. 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For more information please read our Fundraising Ethics Policy Special thanks to our many sponsors and funders Ten electronic sensors will be installed in the Kordelio-Evosmos area of western Thessaloniki by Easter to monitor odor levels in real time addressing a long-standing issue for local residents Five sensors are already in place at locations including the old town hall and several schools with five more planned for sites such as the church and the town hall The sensors will alert residents via text if odor levels exceed acceptable limits A mobile app will also allow residents to report high odor levels triggering an immediate response from the monitoring team aims to identify the source of the persistent odor – potentially linked to industrial activities waste management sites or other environmental factors – and implement solutions to improve air quality Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox While the Greek political world expends itself with political positioning and point-scoring and wastes valuable time debating petty and pointless topics We are not talking about the problems caused by the pandemic or even the extreme weather front We are referring to a different societal backslide a silent one and with far less exposure unless there are violent outbreaks An incident in the Thessaloniki suburb of Evosmos was made public on Friday after several weeks’ delay “A 15-year-old refugee student at the Intercultural High School of Evosmos was savagely assaulted by members of the nationalist fringe when he was returning home to the Diavata Open Facility for Migrants and Refugees.” Similar events often involve nationalist organizations The migrants and refugees react to this violence and on it goes Violence among teenagers has proliferated across the country and is turning into an endemic societal occurrence Experts are pointing out that it is not a general problem but it is widespread (let us not forget the vandalism witnessed during school sit-ins) In many cases parents and teachers have joined forces The Institute of Educational Policy is carrying out a widespread series of training seminars focused on dealing with school violence in all its forms Mainly because once the “issue” at stake is officially recognized it becomes visible and acquires the necessary time and space What is needed is widespread political and social support This goal is also supported by initiatives that are not visibly connected with our school communities A recent example is the advertising campaign of a shampoo brand with the slogan “hair has no gender.” It included five members of the Greek LGBTQ community addressing the camera and sending a message of inclusivity The nationalism of stereotypes and prejudices can be found on many fronts “Ammunition” can be found anywhere: at home “The effort to build a resilient and efficient state mechanism” cannot be consistent like Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page More than 1,500 mourners gathered in a Roma settlement in the Thessaloniki suburb of Evosmos on Thursday for the funeral of a teenager who died days after being shot in the head by a police officer during a chase over an unpaid gas station bill The shooting of 16-year-old Kostas Frangoulis triggered days of protests which often turned violent despite calls for restraint by the teenager’s family and Roma community leaders Today we are all Roma,” said Theofilos Alexopoulos Mourners crowded round the open white coffin in which Frangoulis lay a white baseball cap on his head and covered to the neck with flowers The crowd played traditional mournful music and a rap song that was one of the teenager’s favorites as they formed a convoy that followed the hearse to the cemetery for the funeral service and burial the Labor Ministry’s Secretary General for Social Solidarity and Fighting Poverty “We bid farewell to a young person … who didn’t have time to live his life and who leaves behind an underage wife and an underage child.” Stamatis said the government would support the family “and all these people breaking their social exclusion and the ghettos they live in.” The Roma community has denounced the shooting in the northern city of Thessaloniki as racially motivated Several Roma men have been injured or fatally shot in recent years during confrontations with police while allegedly seeking to evade arrest for breaches of the law The case has shone a spotlight on the Roma community which faces widespread discrimination and often lives on the margins of society in Greece “Social inclusion with destitute people who live – not live survive – in inappropriate conditions in camps president of the Confederation of Greek Roma “Social inclusion for us is for us to be integrated in society as a whole with targeted policies” for a vulnerable population adding that the Roma community suffered from unemployment of above 70%-80% Police have said the youth attempted to ram the police motorbikes chasing him with his pickup truck The officer accused of firing the shot has said he fired because he feared the lives of his colleagues were in danger but that he had been aiming at the pickup truck’s tires and not at the driver The 34-year-old police officer was suspended and is under house arrest pending a court decision on whether to remand him in custody until his trial or release him on bail Members of the Roma community have made clear they expect him to be put on remand Frangoulis spent more than a week hospitalized in critical condition after the December 5 shooting Motorbike police had given chase after he allegedly filled his pickup truck with gas at a Thessaloniki station and drove off without paying the 20-euro bill The officer was initially charged with a felony count of attempted manslaughter with possible intent and a misdemeanor count of illegally firing his weapon The felony charge is likely to be changed to manslaughter with possible intent following Frangoulis’ death A prosecutor from the northern port city of Thessaloniki has ordered a preliminary investigation into the beating of a 15-year-old refugee Police will have to determine whether the crimes of unlawful violence and attempted grievous bodily harm with racist motives were committed who is of Iraqi descent and attends the Evosmos Intercultural High School said he was punched with brass knuckles and kicked by a group of youngsters in December 2021 while walking to the bus to the migrant camp at Diavata seem to be linked to students belonging to a far-right group A strong magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred in the Aegean Sea near the coast of Central Macedonia,  Greece 2024 at 7.03 pm local time (Europe/Athens GMT +2) The quake had a very shallow depth of 15 km (9 mi) and was felt over a large region The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicenter than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would.