Three Injured in Attack on University of Athens Student Assembly

by · Greek City Times

Three people have been taken to hospital after a group of individuals attacked a student assembly at the University of Athens in Greece on Wednesday.

Greece’s emergency medical service confirmed that the injured were not in critical condition. No further details about their injuries were immediately released.

Police have launched an investigation to establish who was responsible for the attack and what motivated it. No arrests had been reported at the time of publication.

Read more: Teachers, students and doctors strike across Greece: How public transport will run today

According to initial reports, some of the attackers were wearing helmets during the incident.

The Greek Education Ministry condemned the violence, saying the attack “insulted the academic community and undermined freedom of expression”.

The incident comes amid growing tensions over education funding, student accommodation costs and conditions at universities across Greece.

On October 21, thousands of students and teachers took to the streets of Athens, demanding more affordable student housing and increased government investment in education.

Similar demonstrations took place in Thessaloniki, Patras and several other European cities, including in Italy and France.

Protesters carried banners highlighting the financial pressures facing students and the need for greater investment in public education. One banner read: “From Greece to France, give money to education”.

University students criticised the government’s response to the rising cost of living, arguing that existing financial assistance does little to address the cost of renting accommodation.

Engineering student Panagiotis Moschonas, 20, said a monthly rent subsidy of €120 was insufficient to cover even half of a student’s rent and was paid at the end of the year.

Teachers also staged industrial action on October 21, with educators warning that rising living costs and deteriorating conditions in schools were placing increasing pressure on families and teaching staff.

Further student demonstrations have been planned across Greece this month. However, authorities have not established whether the latest attack is connected to the planned protests or the wider demonstrations over education issues.

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, founded on May 3, 1837, is the oldest public university in modern Greece.

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