How the world sees Greece
Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit — is to deliver the opening ... Detroit Free Press Nicholas, who heads the Greek Orthodox Church in Michigan, said he's politically independent and supports bringing people together. Scheduled for 5 p.m., his invocation tonight will be for all backgrounds, regions and faiths, not just Orthodox ... |
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 Kathimerini | Germany tells Greece it must fully implement reforms Reuters BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told his Greek counterpart Yannis Stournaras at meeting on Tuesday that Athens must fully implement promised reforms in order to receive further aid from its international lenders. Stournaras seeks German approval |
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The thuggish members of Golden Dawn, with their neo-Nazi ties and attacks on immigrants, should be banned from parliament
The Greek far-right party Golden Dawn has been flirting with an "outlaw" rhetoric lately. Appealing to a disgruntled electorate, its MPs constantly try to point out that the Golden Dawn is unlike any other political party in Greece. They are right in this respect. In fact, they are not a party at all: they are acting like a gang of criminal thugs, and it should not be beyond the pale to declare their organisation as such.
"We feel disgusted in the parliament," said their leader, Nikos Mihaloliakos, in a speech to his followers on 25 August. "If they want us to, we can abandon it at any given moment and take to the streets. There, they shall see what the Golden Dawn is really about, they will see what battle means, they will see what struggle means, they will see what bayonets sharpened every night mean". Holding torches, they shouted "blood, honour, Golden Dawn" – a direct translation from the German "Blut und Ehre", the motto once carried by the Nazi SA. "It's you who are our Storm Detachments (Sturmabteilung). Let them come after you!" he continued, in his usual Nazi-inspired terms. Singing their official hymn "Raise the flags high" – again, a direct translation of the Nazi stormtroopers hymn "Die fachne hoch" – young men and women call for open, violent conflict both with the state and with any opponents on the ground.
An organisation with explicit ties to neo-nazism, advocating violence and attacking immigrants and anti-racist marches in the street: does this sound like a legitimate democratic party?
It's not unusual for far-right parties to use populist rhetoric to persuade their followers, and for very specific reasons: despite their claims to abhor the parliamentary system, they seem comfortable enough taking advantage of the privileges Greek MPs enjoy, including immunity from prosecution. Several Golden Dawn MPs are awaiting trial for crimes, ranging from armed robbery to severe bodily harm. The now infamous Golden Dawn MP and spokesman Illias Kasidiaris is wanted not just for attacking two leftwing MPs on live television – images of which were seen around the world – but also for accessory to robbery, bodily harm and illegal gun possession. His trial for the later offences was to take place on 3 September, but he used his parliamentary privilege to have it postponed.
Kasidiaris is by no means an isolated case of thuggery. Only a few hours before the severe beating of four Egyptian fishermen in Crete's Perama, Ioannis Lagos, another Golden Dawn MP, proclaimed "Egyptian fishermen will be held accountable by the Golden Dawn, and by the Greek people for their activity" in a speech he gave there. Inciting racial violence would be, of course, illegal in Greece, but he wasn't prosecuted. A few days ago, inside the parliament this time, Golden Dawn MP Dimitris Koukoutsis allegedly violently attacked two leftwing MPs and the president of the Pakistani community in Greece, Javet Aslam. The case is still open.
The Golden Dawn makes a mockery of the Greek history it claims to venerate. It does this by disrespecting every democratic principle we Greeks, as a nation, should be proud to uphold. But its MPs never go so far as to quit their parliament seats. Mihaloliakos and his followers seem to be quite comfortable in taking advantage of the exposure their party is currently enjoying, as well as the extra funding for their well-oiled PR machine. They thrive inside the very system they claim to despise.
By swearing on using violence against anyone they deem unworthy, the Golden Dawn is not unlike a criminal syndicate. It should no longer be treated as a legitimate political party. Even if it means they are temporarily shot up to "hero" status, they have to be banned from the political process. The fact that it was provided with this platform was wrong in the first place. Now we must have the courage to ban it from parliament. Allowing messages of hate to be broadcast day and night while we look from afar, heads nodding as our society implodes, is inexcusable. We simply can't allow immigrants to be brutally beaten and stabbed in our streets every day.
Mihaloliakos says he feels disgusted and uncomfortable being inside the Greek parliament. Well Mr Mihaloliakos, the feeling is mutual.
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Greece ëBattlingí with Racism-fuelled Crimes Journal of Turkish Weekly Greeceís public order minister said that Greece was now grappling with a ìnew phenomenonî of racism-fuelled crimes, but insisted that sweeps against illegal migrants should expand. Racist violence is a ìnew phenomenon,î the minister Nikos Dendias told ... |
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Private doctors working with Greece's largest state-run healthcare provider have started charging their patients, in protest at the organisation's unpaid bills.
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The Greens are right to sense a big opportunity with a significant minority of voters
Greenery is on the agenda, all right – but for the wrong reasons. The reshuffle-cum-relaunch of the government is preceded by murmurs about how there might after all need to be a third runway at Heathrow, and perhaps also a builders' charter to bulldoze Britain's way out of recession. The days when the Cameronite pitch was Vote Blue, Go Green are forgotten. Over the past year, the prime minister has downgraded a big green speech to a few brief remarks, while his chancellor has roused the Conservative conference to cheer by vowing to take on those who would "save the planet by putting our country out of business".
Like Labour and the Liberal Democrats – who, to lesser extents, have also toned down their environmental emphasis – David Cameron and George Osborne have simply concluded that the financial struggle to muddle through the here and now renders the distant future of the planet an intolerably lofty concern. The focus groups tell them as much. They may be right, too, for a good swath of the electorate. But as the Green party elected the campaigner (and former Guardian journalist) Natalie Bennett as its leader on Monday, it is nonetheless looking forward to its conference later this week in remarkably good spirit.
For if the ideological climate is not propitious for environmentalism just now, the political environment could hardly be more opportune for a party of radical protest. The cuts bite ever harder. Ed Miliband may have tacked Labour slightly leftward, but retains a necessary focus on the centrist swing voters that he will need if it is ever to win a majority. The Lib Dems – who provided an anti-establishment home for so many malcontents after Iraq – now have hands that are sullied by the coalition austerity programme, which is one reason why the Green party's Jenny Jones was able to pip Brian Paddick to third place in London's mayoral election. With the very partial exception of George Galloway's Respect, no one is making the full-throated anti-austerity case that the Dutch socialists, Syriza in Greece and others are successfully voicing across Europe. The Greens come from a different, more middle-class tradition, but, having established leftish credentials under outgoing leader Caroline Lucas, they are right to sense a big opportunity with a significant minority of voters. Ms Bennett's words on Monday about safeguarding decent social security ought to be utterly unremarkable; the fact that no other party leader would utter them without simultaneously invoking bogeymen fraudsters emphasises the space that is there to fill.
The big question, as often in leftish politics, is whether the party will be ruthless enough to seize the chance – or whether it will instead prove more interested in being preachy than practical. Ms Bennett's elevation is an encouraging sign, in that she displayed more awareness of the need for shrewd tactics and strategy than idealistic rivals such as Romayne Phoenix. She did well to beat the better-known Peter Cranie, in a result that demonstrates that Green activists study the literature and detailed policies as opposed to going with a name. That is of course a strength, but it is one that can turn into a vulnerability if it leads to the sort of insularity that once saw old Labour indulge in fierce arguments over detailed party positions that allowed for no compromise with the electorate. The Greens have often been too pure for practical politics in the past, refusing to acknowledge even the need for a leader before Ms Lucas.
But with Ms Lucas remaining as the chief public face, and Ms Bennett picking up the operational reins, there could be an opportunity to broaden the appeal – to follow the example of those Kirklees councillors who have sold energy efficiency to cash-strapped voters who may have little interest in climate change, but are mightily interested in lower fuel bills. However it is sold, many voters will continue to regard the Greens' radical economics as pie in the sky; but many others could become interested if the party can only relate it to the bread and butter of life.
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 Hurriyet Daily News | Greece 'battling' with racism-fuelled crimes Hurriyet Daily News Greece's public order minister said that Greece was now grappling with a “new phenomenon” of racism-fuelled crimes, but insisted that sweeps against illegal migrants should expand. Racist violence is a “new phenomenon,” the minister Nikos Dendias told ... Anti-Immigrant Sentiment In Greece Is Growing Steadily Worse Pogroms in Greece: Racist Violence Sweeps the Nation Op-Ed: Poll: Greece's Golden Dawn gains support as other parties fall |
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