'Bread, not games' chant Poles against Euro 2012
(WARSAW) - Nearly 500 protesters rallied in Poznan, western Poland, Sunday against the Euro 2012 football championships underway in Poland arguing that too much money was spent organising the games, local reports said.
Airing their grievances just ahead of the Ireland-Croatia face-off in the city, the protesters -- mostly trade unionists -- chanted "Bread, not games!" a twist on the 'Bread and games' slogan of ancient Rome.
"We're protesting against the current policy. At a time of crisis, when there is less and less social housing, we are spending millions of zloty on building football stadia," protest organiser Katarzyna Czarnota said, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.
In the five-year run-up to the 16-nation quadrennial championships co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine -- a first for ex-communist countries -- Poland saw very little in the way of public dissent against Euro 2012, seen as an opportunity to upgrade its communist-era transportation networks.
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On the agenda of the demo
Some of the reasons were underestimation of the Euro2k12 budget something like fourfold, and alleged corruption, the investments also have totally paralyzed social programs (which were shallow anyway), public services, led to cuts and raises in daily expenditures, and further post-Euro costs are being neglected by the government.
Read the full manifesto here: http://www.10czerwca.eu/2012/04/20/stanowisko-en/