Campus Safety in Focus as Mitsotakis Meets Greek University Chiefs

11:26 2/6/2025 - Πηγή: Dikaiologitika

On Monday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to meet with the country’s university rectors at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, as his government moves forward with a renewed push to tighten security and discipline measures across public universities. The meeting comes amid mounting concerns over safety on campuses and a broader campaign to enforce order in higher education institutions.

The government is pressing universities to comply with a legal obligation to establish and regularly update comprehensive campus security plans. However, only one in three universities has done so to date, according to official data. The Mitsotakis administration is determined to accelerate this process, viewing it as a critical step toward restoring a sense of safety in academic environments.

In parallel, significant changes are expected in how universities handle student misconduct, particularly in cases involving violence against faculty or vandalism of university property. Authorities aim to overhaul the disciplinary framework, which has long been criticized for delays and inefficiency. Under a new proposal introduced last month by Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki during a rectors' assembly, each university will be required to maintain a single disciplinary council responsible for swiftly processing such cases and reaching a conclusion within two months.

The plan also introduces stricter consequences for serious offenses: students facing criminal charges for acts of violence or major property damage will automatically lose their student status for two years. If convicted, they will be permanently expelled. The proposal includes additional measures, such as the installation of access control systems that will make university ID cards mandatory for campus entry. Students proven to have caused damage to university facilities will also be held financially responsible for repair costs.

These initiatives are part of a broader law-and-order campaign that has unfolded over the past six years. According to sources, more than 470 arrests have been made and dozens of occupied university spaces — often referred to as squats or self-managed areas — have been cleared by police. Since 2019, 26 such spaces have been evacuated in the Athens region alone, with ten of them returned to university control just last year. In Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, authorities have dismantled eleven similar occupations, including the well-known “Biology Squat,” which had been active for over thirty years. That space has since been repurposed to house the new science library at Aristotle University.

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