The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) calls on the member states of the European Union (EU) and NATO to publically condemn neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Member of Greece’s Parliament Ilias Panagiotaros, who stated the following yesterday during a parliamentary debate:
“…This falsified country of Skopian Gypsies will very quickly become a thing of the past, if not from internal conflicts, it will occur from the emergence of Golden Dawn, which will soon be in government… (Even using the reference “FYR of Macedonia”) is equal with treason (to the Greek state). That is a fact, and Golden Dawn will under no circumstances allow any kind of agreement on any kind of name including the term Macedonia, and anyone who entertains this will have to face us.”
“This fascist party has gained notoriety recently for their flagrant attacks on migrant workers, and for their leader’s ongoing denial of the Holocaust. However, anti-Macedonian irredentism is another key feature of their vicious rhetoric. On the topic of Macedonia, the Greek state is as morally bankrupt as it is financially bankrupt, and other Greek parliamentarians from the other parties have come to accept this kind of hate speech as ‘normal.’ Therefore, member states of the EU and NATO have a duty to respond to this kind of provocation, especially considering their constant lectures to authorities in the Republic of Macedonia, on the topic of good neighborly relations,” said UMD Greece Representative Eugenia Natsoulidou.
In June, the Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the Greek Parliament under the slogan “So we can rid the land of filth.” Their political platform actively promotes a revival of Greece’s long-standing historical fascist traditions, going back to the regimes of Metaxas and Papadopoulos. This ideology includes the doctrine of Hellenic racial superiority, and top-ranking Golden Dawn members have regularly idolized Nazi leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Rudolf Hess.
The Golden Dawn is well known for training gangs of black-shirted youths to use violence and intimidation tactics in pursuit of political goals. Back in the 1990s, Golden Dawn members took part in the Bosnian War on behalf of Republika Srpska, and they participated directly in the Srebrenica genocide. More recently, the Golden Dawn has specialized in attacking journalists, artists, political opponents, ethnic minorities, and immigrants on a wide scale, and often in collusion with strong supporters from within the administration of the Greek police and Greek Orthodox Church.
In 2009, Golden Dawn members attacked a press conference organized by the Rainbow Party/Vinozito in Athens where the first Greek-Macedonian dictionary (written by the late Vasko Karadzha) to be published in Greece was being promoted by renowned international academic and linguist, University of Chicago professor Dr. Victor Friedman and University of Thessaly professor Riki Van Boeschoten. Click HERE to see video of attack.
Earlier this month, UMD President Metodija A. Koloski co-authored an op-ed with Sevin Elekdag for The Hill newspaper entitled “The US can help end extremism in Greece,” and can be read by clicking HERE.