One person died and three others were injured in a series of pre-dawn firebomb attacks targeting the homes of members of Greece's governing New Democracy party in Thessaloniki. The assaults occurred between 4 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Crude explosive devices, reportedly made with camping gas canisters, were used in three separate attacks outside apartment buildings. All of the injuries, including the fatal one, occurred during the final attack, which involved setting cars and motorcycles ablaze.
One of the vehicles targeted was reportedly owned by Afroditi Nestora, a parliamentary candidate for the New Democracy party. Nestora sustained burns in the incident, and her mother later died from burn injuries in an intensive care unit. Two other residents of the apartment building were also hospitalized.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who leads the New Democracy party, visited the injured in Thessaloniki on Wednesday afternoon. He described the death as confirmation of "blind violence in public life" and stated that "the blood spilled and division sown by the extremes will no longer be tolerated." Mitsotakis asserted that "terrorism" would be relegated to the "margins."
The prime minister emphasized that Greece's economic recovery was achieved through hard work and the painful overcoming of past divisions, vowing that the country would "never turn back."
Militant groups in Greece have a history of carrying out attacks against symbols of power or the property of politicians and law enforcement. While these incidents often result in material damage, they typically do not cause injuries. In July 2025, a bomb detonated outside the Thessaloniki home of the president of Greece’s association of prison guards. While the president was unharmed, two other individuals suffered minor injuries from shattered glass. In June 2024, a police officer guarding a top judge's home in Athens was injured in a gasoline bomb attack.
Konstantinos Kyranakis, secretary of the New Democracy party’s political committee, called the latest incidents a "proper terrorist attack on the homes of New Democracy members" and stated that the perpetrators "aimed to kill." He urged reflection on the responsibilities of those who have "cultivated a culture of tolerance toward political violence."