Over 25,000 Greek protestors resisted neo-liberal attempts to privatise Greek public institutions and introduce new taxes at an annual march against a corporate fair in Thessaloniki.

Anarchists, students, trade unions, communists and even football hooligans marched through the city centre as 11,000 riot cops armed with tear gas tried to prevent them entering the conference centre on Saturday 10 September.

The repressive police stance came as multinationals tried to pry national resources like water supply from public hands in exchange for more loans which prevented the country falling below IMF (International Monetary Fund) CCC status and therefore create a situation where investment would be stopped.

However, as some analysts pointed out, this had been the original reason for a massive rise in living costs and unemployment in the region, which originated when Greece joined the euro on January 1, 2001. Since the latest crisis hit the EU the nation's economy has gone into freefall as smaller locally-based businesses were forced to close and multi-nationals subjected the country to a growing oligarchy. A new property tax is set to be introduced to add to the 10% debt tax all income taxpayers already pay for ministers to try to avoid a repeat of the Greek economic bankruptcy.

The Greek anarchists responded with various riots since 2007 as discontent spread from the radical left straight through to the heart of Greek society. Popular discontent for the neo-fascist policies of the government which disregarded the people's wishes and pressed on with the salvage plan proposed by the EU and the IMF was created by extreme austerity measures passed in June. They involved public sector dismissals and paycuts, once deemed inconceivable by citizens looking for safe jobs while privatisation of everything of value would be rampant.

Even within Parliament there was dissent against the government reforms: "This is not a program to salvage the economy, it's a program for pillage before bankruptcy," said Alexis Tsipras, head of the small opposition Left Coalition.

And this anger and frustration was felt on the streets as young and old faced the police who attacked all with merciless volleys of tear gas. They even bombarded the university with new rocket propelled tear gas 'cluster bombs'  fired by the police as students sheltered within their occupied universities. Over 300 universities have been squatted since students returned from their summer holidays as the parliament eliminated the university sanctuary for demonstrators without warning over the summer break while the rest of Greece took its summer holiday.

Janis, an economics student from Athens said the university occupations were an attempt to pressurise the government to change its tack and start to listen to its people: "We are living in some of the worst times in Greek history and the government continues to disregard student rights. We are occupying the university and putting our careers on hold to fight this latest repressive measure. Students are turning to anarchism to fight together against oppression and fascism."

Athens students are already gearing up for direct action during this whole academic year. Thursday September 8 saw 5000 students march to Syntagma square and the Greek parliament though no serious confrontations were reported apart from some attacks on banks and multinational buildings. It was the start of what will be a busy year for the riot police in the town as the public opinion showed its dislike for the ruling party. Only 20% would vote for Papandreou's PASOK party if an election was held now, according to recent polls.

Within the demonstrator ranks there have been some divisions, however, with the Communist Youth trying to limit the amount of direct action against the state. This group, made up of hardline Stalinists, Trotskyists and Marxists, seem to reflect hope they will win the next elections as the country tires of capitalism and drifts towards hunger and desperation.

But as one anarchist told me: "What we need is the dissolution of the state so that people can be allowed to make decisions for themselves about how they live. The Communist experiements already failed and now we have to take the power back and create life without hierarchy or oligarchy."

One example of this system can be found within Athens' own Exarchia neighbourhood. An anarchist initiative supported by local residents led to a car parking being occupied and since then trees have been planted and a park created so that people from all over the Athens can have a safe space to talk and share ideas. Assemblies keep out unwanted characters like drug dealers and riot police, who have a 24-hour guard a few blocks either side of the park.

Sitting at night in the park is a cacophony of action as anti-gentrification measures echo the work of the Berlin autonomous scene. Luxury cars are set on fire to stop rent price-hikes as upmarket cafes spring up around the neighbourhood. Elite riot police armed with tear gas are greeted with molotov cocktails even as the government pushes up the prison sentences for this type of actions. But the defence is resolute and sincere, while the repression is counter-productive. "The stiffening of prison sentences is a mistake by the government. It just militarises the movement and creates more resent and anger from those inside and their friends outside," said Kostas, who regularly goes to the autonomous park.

Travelling around Greece you start to see this is no longer a fight by the left against the right. It is far more than than that. The recent demonstrations showed this as Greek flags could be seen being held by demonstrators and even football fans attacked the police ranks. This is a defence of the people against oligarchic empire. And it is a wakeup call to UK and all of Europe that if we do not defend our freedoms and move away from a state system now the EU and IMF will remove all our rights to follow its neo-liberal pipedream and reinstate a new feudalism across all of Europe.