Gas canister attack on Greek migration minister Thanos Plevris's Athens office

The attack

At about 02:15 on Sunday, 1 November, an improvised device made of two gas canisters went off at the entrance of a building on Alexandrou Soutsou Street in Kolonaki, central Athens, where the political office of Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris is housed. The blast damaged the building's main door and broke windows, and glass fragments were scattered over the surrounding area. Warning notices were posted at the entrance to alert people approaching the building to the risk of injury from broken glass. Police and a bomb disposal unit (TEEM) went to the scene to examine the remains of the device and collect evidence that could help identify the perpetrators.

Plevris's response

Plevris reacted with a social media post in which he described the attackers as "supporters of illegal migrants" and linked the attack to the migration issue. He wrote that he had just left the office before the device went off. In the same post he said the way the devices had been placed showed homicidal intent, and that the attack could have endangered lives. He concluded with a defiant message aimed at the attackers.

“I do not count these particular bastards. I frighten them, and they do not frighten me.”

The post also contained the sentence that followed the same line of argument.

“The way they placed the explosive devices proves homicidal intent.”

Earlier attacks on New Democracy officials

NewsIT reported that the attack is the latest in a long list of arson and explosive attacks against New Democracy officials. At the end of September 2026, unknown people also attacked the political offices of Nikos Lovérdos and Nikos Papathanasis, as well as the 6th Municipal Organization of New Democracy. Separately, a firebomb attack on a home in Thessaloniki killed the mother of a woman who lived there, and the reports describe the wounds from that attack as still open.

Investigation

Police are collecting witness statements and reviewing security camera footage to trace the people behind the attack. The identity of the attackers and their motives are still under investigation, and no arrests have been reported in the sources.