A European Parliament conference on minority rights in Greece turned nasty on Wednesday when MEPs from the extreme-right Golden Dawn party, backed up by shaven-headed heavies, took exception to the debate. The conference was slated to discuss the situation in Thrace, a province in northern Greece that is home to many ethnic Turks, when Lampros Fountoulis MEP shouted: “There is no Turkish minority. Go to the problems of your country, not my country.” “I am here to protect Greece.” According to a conference attendee, Fountoulis was accompanied by Eleftherios Synadinos, another Golden Dawn MEP, and heavies wearing European Parliament badges. The MEPs later distributed a letter complaining about the meeting, which they described as “despicable” and “ignorant of history.” * [Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo at the European Parliament] Also On Politico POLISH PM TO MEPS: ‘NOTHING BAD IS HAPPENING’ Maïa de La Baume * [U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visits the Moria Refugee Camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece] Also On Politico UN REFUGEE CHIEF: DON’T TURN GREECE INTO A CAMP Giulia Paravicini Csaba Sógor, a Romanian center-right MEP representing the country’s Hungarian minority, stood up to the Greeks while other attendees sat with heads bowed. “You have to respect the rules of this Parliament. Go out now if you cannot be decent and civilized,” he shouted. The event was organized by Sógot and sponsored by the center-right European People’s Party, the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Josep Terricabras, a left-wing MEP who was present, called on European Parliament President Martin Schulz to “take measures to avoid intolerable fascist behavior of MEPs and assistants of Golden Dawn.”
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