Dear friends, good day to you!
The tragic murder of Vagia Nestora in Thessaloniki, following the coordinated attacks against the homes of New Democracy officials, is a reminder that political violence is never “symbolic.” It is never an “intervention.” It is never “activism.” From the moment violence is chosen as a means of political expression, the next step can be bloodshed. And this time it was.
The first duty of the State is self-evident. To identify the perpetrators, uncover any masterminds, and bring everyone before Justice. In a law-abiding democracy, there are no political alibis for terrorism nor ideological mitigating circumstances for murder.
But there is also a second duty, equally critical. Not to turn this tragedy into the starting point of a new cycle of political division.
Greece has paid a very high price for the periods during which political confrontation escaped the bounds of democratic conflict and turned into the moral annihilation of the opponent.
When labels replaced arguments, when tolerance toward “small” unlawful acts was considered almost a sign of political sensitivity, and when some rushed to seek justifications instead of unequivocally condemning violence. History proved that such concessions do not defuse tension. They legitimize it.
Of course, the government has every reason to highlight the seriousness of the attack. However, it must also resist the temptation of generalization or the partisan exploitation of a tragedy.
Likewise, it is not enough for the opposition to condemn terrorism with formal statements. It needs to reject in practice every culture of tolerance toward practices that, however “low-intensity” they may appear, cultivate the logic that violence can constitute a form of political action.
The truth is that responsibility neither begins nor ends with the current juncture. For years, different governments treated with unjustified leniency phenomena presented as “interventions”, “dynamic protests,” or “activism.” Every time violence acquired an ideological wrapping, some rushed to downplay it. Until at some point reality proved harsher than words.
That is why the greatest stake today is not only the solving of a heinous criminal act. It is to prevent public life from being poisoned once again by the suspicion, polarization, and toxicity for which the country paid so dearly during the years of the crisis.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke of the need to raise “a bulwark of maturity as well as determination”. It is a phrase that deserves to go beyond the limits of any given government. This bulwark cannot be partisan. It must be democratic. It must be built by all political parties, the institutions, the media, and above all, society itself.
Because terrorism tests Democracy with its bombs. Toxicity, however, undermines it far more insidiously: by turning the political opponent into an enemy and disagreement into a pretext for hatred. It poisons trust, intensifies passions, turns disagreement into hatred and democratic confrontation into a civil-war climate.
This is a road Greece has walked before.