A CIRCLE CLOSES, THE RACE CONTINUES! --- "Wanderer, there is no road; the road is carved by walking" - Antonio Machado --- In January 2013, a group of people decided to create a new anarchist collective in the city of Thessaloniki, on the one hand seeking to politically express the current of libertarian communism and social anarchism, and on the other hand to contribute to the then emerging effort to form a pan-Hellenic Anarchist Federation.
Over these thirteen years, dozens of comrades have chosen to join this collective, some for a shorter period and others for a longer period, contributing with this choice both to the organization of the anarchist-anti-authoritarian movement and to the strengthening of social-class struggles, shaping the physiognomy of the collective and being shaped in turn by it.The Thessaloniki Freedom Initiative, through its participation in struggle processes over the years, has grown, matured, learned, changed. It has been excited, despaired and re-excited countless times. Countless times it has been confronted with limits and dead ends, countless times it has sought and tested the collective ways in which it could continue its action fruitfully, each time, as it had always hoped.
Thirteen years of companionship and participation in social and political struggles cannot be contained in a few pages, let alone a few lines.
However, even as a brief historical record, we would like to say that we feel honored and happy to have participated in the anti-memorandum struggles and anti-austerity mobilizations in the period 2012-2015, in the movement against gold mining in Skouries from 2012 to the present, in the solidarity movement with the workers who occupied the BIO.ME factory. in 2012 and have been operating it on self-management terms ever since; in the anti-fascist movement that peaked nationwide after the murder of the anti-fascist musician, Pavlos Fyssas, by the neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn in 2013, while in our city it constituted a crucial bulwark both against the fascist groups that carried out attacks through the rallies for the "Macedonian" in 2018 and against the general upsurge of nationalist/fascist activity in the city in the years that followed (such as in Stavroupoli in 2021); in the solidarity movement towards immigrants and refugees (especially in the period 2015-2018) as well as in the continuous actions against the ever-escalating anti-immigration policy of the Greek state to this day; in the movement against the "new social security" in 2016 but also in every large or small strike mobilization through political or trade union formations, in the fight against the abolition of the Sunday holiday; in the feminist and LGBTQI+ movement in general but also specifically in the mobilizations that followed the murder of Zackie Oh! in 2018; in the gigantic rallies for the state-capitalist crime of Tempi since 2023 as well as in every struggle against privatizations and the devaluation of the welfare state, such as in the struggles to strengthen public health, especially during the pandemic period (2020-2022) but also in the student mobilizations of the last decade to defend the public character of the university and against the authoritarian policies within it; in the solidarity movement in the great struggles of the prisoners in 2014 and 2015, in the hunger strike of Kostas Sakkas in 2013, of Nikos Romanos in 2014, of Dimitris Koufondinas in 2016 and 2021, in the struggle for the vindication of Tasos Theofilos in 2017 as well as in all the mobilizations of fighters within the walls all these years, in the mobilizations in defense of the occupations, against police repression and the authoritarianism of the state, against state and employer murders.
All these years we have tried to consistently support anti-war and anti-imperialist initiatives and mobilizations both against the war preparations of the Greek state itself and against wars and massacres in various parts of the world, most recently the mobilizations for the genocide of the Palestinian people. We have shown our internationalist solidarity at every opportunity, especially for our Kurdish comrades.
From the beginning of our operation, we have given as much weight as possible to self-education and training processes for the members of our collective (something that we hope is clearly visible both in our statutes and founding declaration as well as in our texts and proposals) and more generally for the world of the movement, considering that theoretical formation, the preservation of historical-militant memory and the collective dissemination of knowledge are necessary conditions for an emancipatory and targeted political action. We also feel great pride in the editorial and theoretical work that we have been able to develop through the Libertarian Publications "Koursal" and the Political Review "Social Anarchism" (which has 7 issues so far) as well as for our participation every year in the Libertarian Book Festival of Thessaloniki.
Sometimes on our own initiative and sometimes supporting the initiatives of others, through hangouts and squats, through political processes and events, coordination of collectives and open assemblies, local and nationwide mobilizations, reflexive calls and anniversary demonstrations, marches and clashes, struggle centers and pickets, labor struggles and anti-fascist patrols, festivals and campaigns, collective kitchens and concerts, we had the joy and fortune to meet countless comrades from Greece and abroad, to struggle, to be inspired and to create together, to be disappointed, to be sad, to regroup by picking up our pieces and to continue together again. We had the joy and fortune to collectively envision a better future world for all, the joy and fortune to fight for it daily, thus making it tangible and real already in the here and now.
We believe that this beautiful, adventurous and full of surprises journey that we took with the NTF has come to an end. And this is not so much due to subjective factors (internal disagreements, reduced momentum, accumulated fatigue, etc.) but mainly due to objective factors, with this difficult and painful decision being the culmination of two years of extensive internal reflection, reflection and discussion.
Since our foundation, we have emphatically argued that the formation of a unified, anarchist, pan-Hellenic organization is a necessary condition both for the organizational upgrading of the anarchist movement and for the most effective contribution of this movement to the social and class struggle. This position has never been for us simply an abstract "ideological" declaration, but a basic pillar of our organization, as well as a constant and persistent pursuit throughout most of our operation and action. However, after the failure of the attempt to establish a pan-Hellenic federal structure (Anarchist Federation), an effort to which we devoted all our strength, and in the absence of a new corresponding perspective, we found ourselves faced with an irreconcilable contradiction: to politically defend the need to transcend the form of organization of small-member local groups of political affinity, while in practice we continued to function as yet another such form, ending up rather reinforcing this political form than questioning it and attempting to transcend it, as we had always hoped.
The gradual realization, therefore, of our inability and weakness to maintain what we believe to be a sufficiently fruitful and substantial action/intervention through this limited and restrictive political form led us to the logical conclusion that the Thessaloniki Freedom Initiative has completed its historical cycle, in the meantime offering what it could offer to the movement and through it to society.
With sadness for this important chapter of our collective life that we are now closing, but also with pride for what we have built and achieved together all these years, today, July 19, 2026, we announce the cessation of our collective. Eleftheriakes Ekdosies "Koursal", nevertheless, will continue its normal operation. We chose to end the existence of our collective with an event to review its 13 years of activity and with the hanging of a giant canvas at the Thessaloniki Workers' Center honoring the 90th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Revolution, the revolutionary event that inspired us, inspires us and will continue to inspire us more than any other.
Our collectivities are nothing more than the means by which we move forward. As important as they are in our lives and actions, we should not remain attached to them. We must practice self-criticism, reevaluate our choices, and be ready to recognize when a cycle is complete, to make ruptures, and to seek new paths.
Because, as the Zapatistas say, "we walk asking questions."
This decision of ours does not signal the withdrawal of each and every one of us from the struggle. On the contrary, we will continue to defend the oppressed and exploited of this world and to struggle with them in every way, to stand by our comrades whenever and wherever necessary, through our social-class formations and through new political ventures that we hope will serve the class struggle and the revolutionary perspective more effectively.
Participation in social and class struggles is not just a possibility for us, but has long been our vital function. Having felt the joy and vitality of struggle and collective life all these years within the movement, we suspect that our situation is now irreversible. We still insist on considering that this is the only life worth living, in a world that is growing darker.
So we hope that we will continue to "sing loudly with a huge fire in our heads", as we feel we have been doing until now. "Again from the beginning again..."
We wholeheartedly wish the same to all of you, to those of you with whom we once stood together, to those of you who will one day stand together!
Organization and Struggle
for Libertarian Communism,
for Anarchy
Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki (2013-2026)
19/7/2026
https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/pausi_leitoyrgias-epth/#respond
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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