Greek Police shut down five central metro stations in downtown Athens making it difficult for strikers and protesters to join the big rally on Wednesday.
These metro stations are: Syntagma, Panepistimio. Omonoia, Monastiraki, Evangelismos.
Open metro stations are around 500 meters away from the meeting point at Klafthmonos Square. These are; Thisio, Victoria, Acropolis, Metaxourgio, Megaro Musikis. ISAP 11-5, Metro 12-4.
The shut down has not hindered crowds of people flocking but it triggered the anger of opposition parties, the communist KKE and MeRA25.
In a sharp statement, KKE spoke of “an unacceptable and provocative” decision by the government and the Police noting that “the government is not going to prevent the river of the people and the youth from flooding the streets of Athens”.
It its part, Varoufakis’ MeRA25 said it contacted the head of the Greek Police on the issue and it reserves its right to take legal actions in order to keep the stations open.
“It is known that the Mitsotakis government is allergic to any manifestation of popular reaction. The desperate moves by ELAS [Police] are not going to stop the people from joining the protest today.”
Note that Metro Lines 2 and 3 will operate from 12 noon to 4 p.m. and urban train ISAP (Metro Line 1) from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. due to the strike also in public transport means.
The closed metro stations will open again when police decides when the protest is over – or when they ware closed again due to strike…
