“The Mitsotakis government has targeted people of culture because they are afraid of them, like anything they can’t control,” the president of SYRIZA-PS said in a social media post. Alexis Tsipras in connection with the “unprecedented post-political” decision National Theater teachers resign.

“This is a very symbolic movement for their fair and self-evident demands, for the struggle of thousands of artists across Greece,” says Alexis Tsipras.

He goes on to accuse the government of “persecuting the people of Culture because it cannot control them” and adds: “It has made no secret of its intentions for nearly four years, treating them as an ‘invisible’ part of society. From the beating of director Indare, the shameful scandal with Lignadis, the cutting down of ancient forests at the Venizelos station in Thessaloniki, and the cementing of the Acropolis, to the downgrading and equating of artist degrees today with high school diplomas.”

He concludes by urging “the outgoing government to immediately remove artistic professions from the Presidential Decree and recognize their labor rights of T.E. Cultural workers are not expendable. Culture is not a luxury. It’s necessary”.