2011-06-07 The #Europeanrevolution consolidates in #France and #Spain as hundreds of thousands protest in #Greece

Despite the obfuscation of information by major outlets in traditional media and Internet, the movement born in Europe on the past 15th of May is spreading all across the continent, each day with more intensity and popular support. The repercussions, both in economic and political scenario are still unknown, in the same way the effects of the Cablegate episode of November 2010 were difficult to apprehend in that date but step by step shows its importance to contemporary society. The revolution lead by the European youth holds all Western economical and political structures as its enemy and is the type of social movement that does not have its shelter- an essential characteristic of a revolution. Relevant information of the gatherings, protests and projects are provided uniquely by independent media, and in some occasions these are being boycotted. The website for the Real Democracy Now platform in Berlin claimed that they were attacked, and the independent media site, www.europeanrevolution.com was finally put offline illegally, after having been blocked via DNS in, at least, France and Belgium. Below is a recollection of information from past events in different countries.

The movement has grown the most in Greece, where people have held protests in front of the Parliament building, located in central Syntagma Square, for fourteen days. A camp has also been set up and hundreds of people are sleeping there. Patra, Thesaloniki and all other major cities also hold popular assemblies and protests in their main squares. Protests, that have been going on sporadically for about a year, increased after the announcement of harsh austerity measures added on to the second bailout conditions being debated by the UE and the IMF, along with the Greek Government. These include a law which will reduce the salary of people younger than 26 in 20%, allowing employers to pay less than 600 euros a month. At the same time however, the Greek government has continued to spend millions of euros on weapons. This has sparked a strong movement of outraged citizens, to the point where last Sunday, around 500-800 thousand people took the streets of Athens to demonstrate their dissatisfaction. According to Demotix.com, the movement was “the largest witnessed in decades, adding pressure to the prime minister to reject latest austerity package”. The All Workers Militant Front (PAME) occupied. the ministry of finance on Friday, making it impossible for people to access the building where the bailout negotiations are taking place. They also displayed a huge banner from the building calling for a general strike. "We have a sacred duty to our children and ourselves to cancel plans to turn workers into modern slaves," PAME said in a statement, they also assured that "we must not allow our children to work for hunger wages. If we do not fight to overthrow these policies their working future will be hell." Interesting photos of recent events in Greece can be found here and a video of the Syntagma Square demonstration on the 5th of June here . A good article on the complex greek crisis can be found here.

In Spain, the group of activists working under the name Democracia Real Ya, which started the movement of the 15th of May, is calling for a massive demonstration all across the country, in streets and squares, on the 19th of June. This protest will be coordinated with all the camps, most notably Barcelona and Madrid, and assemblies are deciding if they should all lift the camps at the same time, to coincide with the march. The way in which it will be carried out is also being debated. Another protest is planned for the 15th of October, and organizers are hoping to make it happen in all of Europe or worldwide. The movement is Spain is more mature and robust, always organized horizontally and increasingly decentralized and organized. The official media channel for the camp in Puerta del Sol claimed that around 28 thousand people participated in the smaller assemblies held in each neighborhood of the city. Facebook pages representing each group are posting information on decisions, committees and weekly meetings. In general, the repercussion of the police crackdown in Barcelona on the 22nd of May engaged more citizens to take action in the camp of Catalunya square. This also gave the camp exposure in the media around Europe. Campings are present in at least 30 cities in Spain, such as Valencia, Bilbao, Sevilla and Vigo.The. Tomalaplaza channel has updated and illustrative videos regarding the matter. The web 15MayRevolution.com provides information in English about the movement in Spain.

In France assemblies are being held in major squares in at least 20 cities and according to a contact in www.ReelleDemocratie.fr, the squares of Brest, Bayonne, Toulouse and Lyon are constantly occupied. Assemblies are taking place every day at Bastille Square in Paris, but according to the same contact police evict the protestors every night. A massive gathering to definitely occupy La Bastille is planed for the next weekend. Last Sunday, in the first attempt to establish a camp in the square, the police evicted the protesters with tear gas, general aggression and arrests. A video can be found here and here . As the information regarding the events in France cannot be published or divulged elsewhere, a dynamical and collaborative document to organize the information was established online (http://piratenpad.de/ep/pad/view/ro.I4OIufwAd8TU3Lcx0a2c/latest).

In Germany, protests and assemblies are taking place at least five squares: in Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart. On the 28th of May, a demonstration against the violent eviction of Catalunya Square in Barcelona took place in front of the Spanish Embassy in Berlin beside the constant protests at Brandenburg Portal. Popular assemblies take place at Lustgarten. There has been complains in social networks that the protests are not being given the attention they deserve, and that the hype caused by the media regarding an outbreak of E. Coli is intentionally pushing them to a secondary role. There is a video here of the gathering at Bradenburger Tor. This is the Facebook page of the movement in Berlin. In Austria, it is also reported that Karl Square in Vienna is under occupation since 29th May.

In Portugal, squares in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra hold daily protests and assemblies at occupied squares. Last Saturday, 5th of June, Police evicted protesters who were camping for two weeks ago at Rossio Square in Lisbon with violence and arrests. A demonstration against violence and the arrest of three protesters took place in front of the Justice department yesterday. A calling for a general assembly and massive gathering in Rossio is set for the 19th of June as published by the website http://acampadalisboa.wordpress.com. Photos can be found here.

In Belgium, Moscow Square in Brussels is occupied since last Saturday, 28th of May, with daily popular gatherings, discussions and activities as a samba block that goes around the area calling people to action. Yesterday, 5th June, it was decided that a new camp will be established apart from the original one at Flagey Square. General Assemblies of the indignés are occurring there since then. In Liege, occupation takes place since 27th May. It is said by Belgian media that the local government will 'tolerate' the demonstrations until the public events that are to be held on "musical day" in Belgium on the 15th of June. A good photo portfolio of the camping in Brussels can be found here. For more information visit www.indignez-vous.be .