ATHENS – A group of youths on Friday accosted a ruling SYRIZA party delegation that had gone to lay a wreath at the statue commemorating the Polytechnic Uprising of November 17, 1973 and prevented their entry into the Polytechnic.

The delegation, made up of Education Minister Costas Gavroglu, Alternate Defence Minister Panagiotis Rigas, SYRIZA Central Committee Secretary Panos Skourletis, former ministers and MPs Nikos Filis, Thodoris Dritsas and Nikos Toskas and MP Anneta Kavvadia, eventually departed without entering.

“These are serious issues and must be met with democratic processes,” Gavroglou commented afterward, noting that the day “brings to mind not only the sacrifices of the young people that struggled and marked the end of the dictatorship but their insistence on safeguarding democratic processes under such difficult conditions, reminding us that democracy must not be taken for granted and every day must be won and expanded through our daily efforts.”

In the meantime, members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) youth group KNE arrived at the Polytechnic to guard the site ahead of the arrival at 10:30 of KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas to lay a wreath.

A ruling SYRIZA party delegation barred from laying a wreath at the statue commemorating the Polytechnic Uprising of November 17, Nov. 16, 2018. (Photo by Eurokinissi)