
Greek Elections: Far Right Regroups
The results returned not one but three clearly far-right parties to parliament, along with another formation that proclaims itself to be “neither right nor left”.
Greece is a parliamentary republic and, since July 2019, ruled by a majority government of the New Democracy (Néa Dhimokratía – right-wing) party. While the economic crisis of 2008-2015 was officially declared over, high numbers of unemployment and stagnated wages remain a problem, magnified by the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greece is a parliamentary republic and, since July 2019, ruled by a majority government of the New Democracy (Néa Dhimokratía – right-wing) party. While the economic crisis of 2008-2015 was officially declared over, high numbers of unemployment and stagnated wages remain a problem, magnified by the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greece is a parliamentary republic and, since July 2019, ruled by a majority government of the New Democracy (Néa Dhimokratía – right-wing) party. While the economic crisis of 2008-2015 was officially declared over, high numbers of unemployment and stagnated wages remain a problem, magnified by the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country maintains positive relations with its neighbouring countries in the North. Unresolved disputes with Turkey over exclusive economic zones (EEZ), territorial waters and other issues have created renewed tensions in the last years. Greece maintains a “special relationship” with the Republic of Cyprus.
Human rights have not been improving in the country over the past few years. Greece is faced with numerous reports from international bodies and organizations, as well as mounting evidence that there’s a central, state-sponsored policy of pushbacks against asylum seekers and migrants both in the land border of Evros and in the Aegean Sea. Meanwhile, the government has passed a new law on citizenship, making prerequisites for applications stricter than before.
The far-right has a recorded total presence of 7,6%, as expressed in the last elections. The main far-right party is Greek Solution, with 3,7% and 10 seats in the parliament. Outside of parliament, Golden Dawn is the largest party of the far-right with 2,93%, while two smaller parties share another 1%. After Golden Dawn’s failure to enter parliament and facing the end of the trial, two split parties formed by the two most prominent members of the neo-Nazi party: “National Popular Consciousness” (“ELASYN”) by Ioannis Lagos (MEP with Golden Dawn, later independent) and Ilias Kasidiaris, previously spokesperson of the Golden Dawn.
Another aspect of the far-right presence is the infiltration of some of its prominent political figures into mainstream right. Three cabinet members of the current government have come to the ruling party from the far-right with no real indication that they have denounced their past, while the public rhetoric of prominent members of New Democracy, as well as the policies implemented by its government, can be seen as sliding more and more to the far-right.
Organized far-right violence has receded significantly since the apparent decline of Golden Dawn. But incidents of racist violence remain present, with some limited resurgence in violence from groups seen in 2021. New groups such as “Trustees of Article 120 of the Constitution” have emerged acting publicly as a militia, while existing groups (“Sacred Band”, “Propatria”) seem to be moving in to fill the gap left by dissolved local chapters of Golden Dawn.
While the far-right in Greece is highly sectarized, the common ancestry of its groups, tracing back to the years of the military dictatorship (1967-1974) and even further to the Civil War (1946-1949) is acting like a cohesive element. This explains why all far-right groups in Greece can be seen aligning behind a common agenda, despite their proclaimed differences.
Attacks from the far-right are mostly directed to those considered by the far-right as “enemy from within”, such as leftists, communists, anarchists and other antifascists, including centrists. Violence against refugees and migrants also occurs, sometimes organized. Acts of vandalism and desecration of Jewish cemeteries have also been recorded recently.
The results returned not one but three clearly far-right parties to parliament, along with another formation that proclaims itself to be “neither right nor left”.
Written by Signal/ Researching and Confronting the Far Right The Greek election results are naturally multifaceted and open to various interpretations. We witnessed an overt defeat of Syriza and MeRA25, thereby of a large part of the Left. We also saw a big victory for conservative New Democracy. After 4 years of a turbulent administration …
Loukas Stamellos reports on the criminal proceedings against the Greek neo-Nazi organization. He is a co-founder of the Greek media collective, OmniaTV. Translated by Danai Kapranou. On October 2020, the news that a Greek court had convicted leading members of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party of running a criminal organization travelled around the world. The …
Despite the fact that Greece suffered a violent history in the twentieth century, with its fair share of military dictatorships, a vicious civil war that led to the persecution of thousands of left-leaning citizens, and a peculiar post-war regime that systematically resorted to the violent repression of political dissenters, by the 1980s it seemed that far-right ideology and practices had been left behind for good. In that sense, witnessing the emergence and rapid spread of a far-right in the 2010s came as a great shock to the country. What we are witnessing in Greece, which may be instructive of broader general developments in the European context too, is a general shift to the right, in what has been described as “droitisation”. This is taking place simultaneously on two different levels: not only does it concern society at large but also the liberal centre, which is moving further and further towards the right.
“X them out! The Black Map of Racist Violence” initiative arose from the need to reveal the organised hate crimes connected with the Golden Dawn neo Nazi organisation in order for the wider public to realise the extent of its criminal activity.
The narrative that has been created on Roma – as Cayetano Fernández writes – is a white construct that produced the legitimization of white identity.
Introduction & Updates in National Landscape The Golden Dawn trial in the Court of Appeals continues regularly. The process is expected to last at least for two years, given the size of the case file and the number of witnesses. The two former lieutenants of Michaloliakos, Ilias Kasidiaris and Ioannis Lagos, now each of them …
Introduction & Updates in National Landscape The Golden Dawn trial in the Court of Appeals is regularly underway. The two former lieutenants of Michaloliakos, Ilias Kasidiaris and Ioannis Lagos, now each of them being the informal (due to electoral law restrictions) head of their own parties, are trying to turn the hearings into a platform …
Introduction & Updates in National Landscape No significant changes in the national landscape have been observed during August and September 2022. The parliamentary far-right party “Greek Solution” (led by K. Velopoulos) retains its following, around 4% of the vote, but does not exert significant influence on the far-right political spectrum. For the month of August, …
Introduction & Updates in National Landscape No significant changes in the national landscape have been observed during this month. The parliamentary far-right party “Greek Solution” retains its following but does not exert significant influence on the far-right political spectrum. The Golden Dawn trial in the Court of Appeals continues, but a split is observed in …
Introduction & Updates in National Landscape The political landscape of the far-right in Greece remains mainly unchanged. The (repeat) trial of the Golden Dawn in the Court of Appeals started at 15 June 2022. The process is expected to be lengthy but somewhat quicker than the trial in the First Instance Court, which lasted for …
Introduction & Updates in National Landscape The Greek far-right political scene is undergoing shifts and changes. Kyriakos Velopoulos and his parliamentary far-right party “National Solution” seem to maintain, according to opinion polls, their influence (around 4,5% according to Pulse ) The new party “Ethniki Symfonia” (“National Agreement”) announced by former ND parliamentarian, Konstantinos Bogdanos, was joined in a …