Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced that students involved in violent acts on university campuses will face expulsion, signaling a tougher approach to campus safety in the wake of a recent incident in Athens. The remarks come after a violent altercation at the Zografou campus of the National Technical University of Athens, where groups of young individuals clashed and assaulted a cafeteria worker. The episode is the latest in a series of similar incidents at Greek universities, which, while not widespread, have sparked national concern.
Speaking on state radio on Monday, Mitsotakis emphasized that violence has no place in public education and that universities must take immediate steps to implement existing safety plans. "It is absolutely necessary that universities stop keeping these plans on paper," he said, calling on university authorities and all relevant actors to assume responsibility. “If they fail to do so, there must be consequences.”
The Prime Minister distinguished between legitimate free expression and violent behavior masquerading as activism. “There must be automatic disciplinary consequences for those students who confuse the freedom of expression with organized violence,” he said. “It’s one thing to speak your mind in a university that fosters open dialogue, and quite another to intimidate or physically attack others to impose your opinion.”
He made clear that students who cross that line should not remain in public institutions. “If you belong to the second category,” Mitsotakis warned, “you should be expelled from the public university.” He also underlined the government's determination to enforce this policy: “We will insist on it and use every legal tool available to make it happen.”
Although such violent incidents remain relatively rare, the Prime Minister’s comments reflect growing impatience with lawlessness on university campuses, a longstanding issue in Greek public discourse. Critics of the current system argue that a culture of impunity has enabled small but disruptive groups to operate unchecked within academic institutions.
