In their 2012 report Europol has “upgraded” the role of militant anarchist group SPF and is considered one of pioneers urban conflict and coordinators of armed anarchist groups in many countries worldwide.
The Europol report analyzed armed attacks from revolutionary and anarchist groups in Europe and noted that armed groups have a strong presence in Greece, Italy and Spain, which is referred to as the “Mediterranean anarchist triangle”. In 2012 there were 18 reported armed attacks, compared to 37 in 2011 and 45 in 2010.
Crucially though, Europol notes that “the international revolutionary front, initiated by the Greek terrorist organization Synomosia Pyrinon Fotias (Conspiracy of Fire Cells), is a diffuse, horizontal structure of informal groups worldwide, which are not in direct contact but communicate by carrying out direct action in the framework of specific campaigns. In this context, the FAI has links to groups or individuals in Greece, Spain, Chile, Indonesia and Mexico”.
Europol considers the Italian Informal Anarchist Federation’s (FAI) armed attackagainst the senior executive of a nuclear energy company in Genoa on the 7th of May 2012 to be similar to the murder of journalist Sokratis Giolias in June 2010 by the “Sect of Revolutionairies” group.
The report mentions that only one armed attack and one arrest took place in 2012 in Greece, which Europol attributes to the successful operations of the Greek Police’s counterterrorism service the previous years. The report however does not include the bomb attack at the Mall, the attack on New Democracy’s offices, the double bank robbery in Velvento and the arrests of a number of urban guerillas.
The full report is available here.
