One of the more egregious squats in Greece, the City Plaza Hotel in central Athens, will now cost the Greek state 312,000 euros, compensation ordered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this week – a decision that generated political reactions against leftist SYRIZA, which was in power during the building’s occupation.
The European high court ruled that the property’s owner was deprived of her right to exploit the property, as the Greek state failed to take measures to return the property to the rightful owner.
Self-styled anti-establishment groups and “no borders” activists occupied the hotel in 2016 after a disorderly bankruptcy abruptly ended its operation. The squatters later filled the hotel’s rooms with asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, mostly from the Middle East, while also heavily promoting the squat on social media and via friendly media. The squatter called the building’s occupation “a self-organized structure for hosting refugees and migrants”.
However, the property’s owner, who had leased the building to the bankrupt business owners, repeatedly filed complaints with police and lawsuits to have the property evacuated.
The squatters, both domestic and foreign, finally vacated the premises days after conservative New Democracy (ND) party decisively won a snap July 2019, ending four years of SYRIZA rule.
On Friday, government spokesperson Stelios Petsas on Friday directly accused now main opposition SYRIZA of exhibiting an irresponsible attitude while in government for failing to end the building’s illegal occupation.
“The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Greece for the occupation. The bill is 312,500 euros. Will this be paid by SYRIZA for its irresponsible behavior? Or will this once again be pass off to the taxpayers?” Petsas asked, in a statement regarding the ruling.
“The occupation, for three whole years, of the City Plaza Hotel is a tragicomic instance that reveals the irresponsibility and inadequacy of the previous government,” he said, while saying the squat ended “because clearly the ‘solidarity squatters’ knew the new government would do what was needed to be done.”
In an even harsher reaction, the small rightist-populist Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) party charged that the place where illegal migrants were hosted, illegally, at the City Plaza, the facility will now house migrants that entered the country illegally, “only now NGOs will now pay for them”.
