The Greek government under the right-wing New Democracy party is reacting to the social tensions escalated by the pandemic with a further sh
"The Greek government under the right-wing New Democracy (ND) party is reacting to the social tensions escalated by the pandemic with a further shift to the right and is bracing itself for a confrontation with the working class. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis therefore reshuffled his cabinet last week and gave positions to radical right-wing forces.
The new health minister is Athanasios (Thanos) Plevris, a lawyer and the son of Greeceâs most influential fascist and Nazi Konstantinos Plevris. Until his defection to ND in 2012, Thanos Plevris was an MP for the far-right party LAOS (Peopleâs Orthodox Alarm). This means that three ministries are now in the hands of former LAOS politicians: Health under Plevris, Interior under Makis Voridis and Development under Adonis Georgiadis. All three are notorious right-wing extremists known for their xenophobic rants.
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Agriculture Minister Makis Voridis had to follow the tradition and cut the New Yearâs Cake for the ministryâs personnel. He ordered a Vasilopita and posted its cost on the government website for ministries expenses: proud 12,000 euros.
A former deputy agriculture minister of SYRIZA denounced the expense saying that she spent just 30 euros for last yearâs festive cake and that she had paid the money form her own pocket.
It didnât take long and the hell broke out on social media.
âWhat did the minister put inside the cake to skyrocket its price?â many wondered with reference to the custom to hide a coin in the New Yearâs Cake.
Sources from Voridisâ ministry told media that the Cake was for the 750 employees of the ministry in Athens and that the cost per person was at 16 euros.
âIt is the minimal offer for all these people who strive daily for the development of our countryâs primary sector,â the sources said and triggered a new outcry.
Unconfirmed information claimed that the cost did not refer only to the cake but also to other supplies during the event.
As the ironic comments on social media did not stop, Minister Makis Voridis announced  on Tuesday, that he will pay the 12,000 euros for the event from his own pocket.
His own pocket? Almost.
Voridis told Open TV that he will cancel the state expense and give the money from the 40,000-euro compensation he won in court where he took SYRIZAâs partner Kammenos for having insulting his personality.
It seems that there is 12,000-euros virus affecting the New Yearâs Cakes this year, as also the Regional Governor of Attica reportedly spent also the same amount for a similar event hosted by at hotel: âŹ9,577.24 plus Value Added Tax.
Greeceâs governing party is under political pressure to take a much more drastic approach to the rising number of refugees.
The Greek government's tough stance on migration doesn't go far enough for conservatives in the ruling New Democracy party like ex-Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who is goading his successor to crack down on what he calls an "invasion by illegals" who are "colonizing" Greece.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who ousted the left-wing Syriza in July's election partly on a promise to crack down on abuse of the asylum system, is trying to draw a balance between tougher rules and conditions in camps for asylum-seekers, and not imitating far-right, xenophobic parties like Golden Dawn and Greek Solution.
But with flows of migrants at their highest since the EU-Turkey agreement of 2016, which was designed to stem arrivals to Europe, and more than 67,000 people arriving in Greece so far this year, the center-right New Democracy is under pressure from Samaras and others for a much more strident approach.
...when a group of anti-immigrant protesters organized a barbecue with alcoholic drinks last month outside a camp containing many Muslim asylum seekers, one New Democracy MP defended the action and said Greeks shouldn't change their culture to accommodate the newcomers. Another MP from the party proposed "breaking the taboo" and sending asylum seekers to remote, uninhabited islands.
Meanwhile, "others in the centre-right party appear to have a more nuanced position, which creates an uneasy political and ideological balance,â said Malkoutzis. He added that the government's tough stance on refugees "undermines their calls on locals for greater assistance" in dealing with the influx.
âThere is a danger that we see in Greece a repeat of what has unfolded in other European countries where refugees and migrants have been stigmatized, which is that they become physical as well as political targets and voters become increasingly attracted to extremist views,â said the analyst.â
The Greek government has promised to tighten already-existing controls regarding the use of the donkeys for tourist rides on the island of Santorini following international criticism of their inhumane treatment.
Greek minister of Agriculture Makis Voridis replied to a letter by Athens-born musician Tommy Lee who last week called on Greece to officially cease the practice of using the animals as âtaxi rides.â
âIâm honored to have been born in Athens, and wherever I tour with Mötley CrĂŒe, I proudly proclaim my Greek heritage,â wrote Lee. âBut thereâs an issue souring the reputation of Greece that I hope youâll help resolve: the sickening abuse of broken-down donkeys and mules made to lug tourists up steep hills on Santorini.â
In response, Voridis said that âThe welfare of productive animals, working animals and generally all the animals of our country is a major concern for me personally and for our Ministry.â
âThe aim of the Ministry in view of the forthcoming tourist season is to tighten the relevant controls throughout the Greek territory. In the event of violations of existing legislation by the audit authorities, the offenders will be subject to severe penalties. It is noted that the envisaged fine may be up to âŹ30,000,â he adds.
A war of words broke out between a MEP and a government Minister, both from New Democracy, due to a statement about disabilities. It was Minister for Rural Development, Makis Voridis, who insulted people with disabilities when he commented on the controversial silly walks event during the 28. October parade.
âOne can talk, discuss with 16 year olds, they are not handicapped,â Voridis said in live panel on Skai TV on Wednesday.
Voridisâ comparison triggered an outrage first on social media.
MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy since he was a child, called on the Minister to withdraw and correct his âunacceptable, offensive and abusive statement.â
Voridisâ statement âtouches the limits of hate speech,â Kympouropoulos said in a lengthy post on social media.
âPeople with disabilities in our country are excluded in many cases and are confronted with a series of stereotypes. They do not even need the politiciansâ unacceptable statements to make their everyday lives more difficult,â the MEP wrote.
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Last month, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a Harvard-trained former banker, was elected prime minister of Greece. His victory â and that of his party, New Democracy â was widely greeted with a sigh of relief. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn had been removed from Parliament, and the leftist Syriza from government. For some, the adults were back in charge.
But there is a problem with the consensus: It isnât true.
New Democracy, far from being a moderate, liberal force, seems to be a right-wing party with pronounced authoritarian tendencies. And Mr. Mitsotakis, who promised to unite the country, is following divisive and polarizing policies. The return of order is proving to be the return of the hard right.
You donât have to search far for evidence. Mr. Mitsotakisâs first month in charge provided plenty of examples of the new prime ministerâs antidemocratic instincts. Three crucial regulatory agencies â protecting the countryâs finances, work force and environment â have been effectively dissolved as part of a bill, recently passed by Parliament, to restructure government. A new institution, grandly called the Presidency of Government, has been created exclusively to support Mr. Mitsotakis. And the state broadcaster has been taken into his control, along with the intelligence services. This is not just a different approach to administrative efficiency. It looks like a purposeful concentration of power in the prime ministerâs office.
For Mr. Mitsotakis, hypocrisy is meat and drink. During the campaign, he railed against the historic agreement that settled the dispute between Greece and Northern Macedonia, only to accept it fully once in power. The son of a former prime minister from one of the countryâs most powerful political dynasties, he condemns nepotism â but appointed one nephew as chief of staff, while another is the mayor of Athens. And both he and his wife, a businesswoman whose name appears in the Paradise Papers, a huge inventory of tax evaders, have been implicated in scandals.
Itâs official: In the snap general election held in Greece on Sunday, the notorious neo-Nazi thugs of Golden Dawn failed to pass the 3 percent electoral threshold and crashed out of parliament after seven turbulent years. At the same time, the conservative New Democracy party led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis comfortably won an outright majority and formed a new government, pushing the left-wing Syriza party of outgoing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras into the opposition.
Now see if you can guess where most of those who abandoned Golden Dawn have found a welcoming political home.
It has been common knowledge for several years that the road that would bring New Democracy back to power would pass through Golden Dawn and the far-right partyâs declining popularity.
The reason was obvious: Golden Dawnâs shocking 7 percent of the vote in four national elections between 2012 and 2015 did not come from aliens who had suddenly landed in Greece. Most came from voters who previously backed New Democracy, which had traditionally been a safe harbor for both far-right politicians and voters since the civil war that tormented the country following World War II â and also after the seven-year military regime ended in 1974.
In order to win back Golden Dawn voters, New Democracy had to pursue a double-edged strategy: First, reaching out to far-right voters by addressing their traditional concerns â public order, a strict immigration policy, a welfare system for âgenuine Greeksâ only, conventionality and patriotism (if not outright nationalism). And second, to stand in opposition to Syrizaâs left-wing policies toward migrants, the LGBTQ community, marginalized citizens and minorities, and also its recent decision to reach an agreement with neighboring North Macedonia, ending a 30-year dispute about its constitutional name (it was formerly Macedonia).
In both cases, you need a few loud politicians who will inspire the far-right voters â and New Democracy was never lacking in that regard.
After the Greek Civil War ended in 1949, many Nazi collaborators had sought refuge in the ruling conservative National Radical Union party (aka ERE) founded by Konstantinos Karamanlis. Then at the end of the â50s came the Max Merten scandal, when the Nazi commander of Thessaloniki (aka Salonika), who was responsible for the transfer of some 45,000 Jews to death camps, was given an amnesty by then-Prime Minister Karamanlis following a controversial trial in which he was sentenced to 25 yearsâ hard labor.
After the âRule of the Colonelsâ ended in 1974 and with political parties no longer outlawed, the National Radical Union morphed into New Democracy, under the same leadership, and played the exact same role as before â but this time for the âorphansâ of the military junta: It provided them with a safe and comfortable shelter.
Throughout the 1970s and â80s, and right up until the start of the Greek financial crisis a decade ago, New Democracyâs far-right lawmakers always maintained a rather modest presence. They had a low-key public stance, walked hand-in-hand with the Greek Orthodox Church, whispering their thoughts and ideas to political supporters, and engaging in cronyism (or as the Greeks call it ârousfetiâ â the long-standing Ottoman term meaning âpolitical favorsâ).
Their characteristics were the same as ever: Pro-monarchy, old junta sympathizers, nationalist, anti-left and anti-Semitic. Still, since such ideas were completely out of fashion until the dawn of the new millennium, they were just a small, silent current flowing within New Democracy â far from the then-leadership that was strategically oriented toward the center-right.
âThree musketeersâ
The first public figure to prominently address far-right issues in the 1990s and 2000s was the charismatic populist Archbishop Christodoulos. Along with a few prominent clerics in the Orthodox hierarchy, he voiced clearly anti-Semitic, nationalistic and xenophobic sentiments in his sermons and in the media. This proved a seamless way to bring extremist ideas back into mainstream politics, as the late Christodoulos (he died in 2008) had a fairly lengthy list of friends and supporters in New Democracy and was also extremely popular among the partyâs base.
The result, in 2000, was the formation of the populist Popular Orthodox Rally (aka LAOS), led by a well-known anti-Semite and former lawmaker in the New Democracy party called Georgios Karatzaferis,. It was through his party â which gained its first seats in the Greek parliament in 2007 â that the Greek public heard for the first time the names Makis Voridis, Adonis Georgiadis and Thanos Plevris.
Considered the Popular Orthodox Rallyâs âthree musketeers,â all three had inglorious pasts: Voridis reportedly formed a fascist student group in the 1980s whose members allegedly greeted each other with Hitler salutes, and then led the youth wing of a far-right political party established by the former head of the junta; Georgiadis went on television to promote nationalistic books, including one called âJews: The Whole Truth,â a collection of conspiracy theories written in a pseudo-scientific manner by the most notorious Greek anti-Semite and Holocaust denier Prof. Konstantinos Plevris â who just happened to be the father of Thanos Plevris.
In 2011, all hell broke loose in the Greek economy following the government debt crisis. As the second-largest party, New Democracy â along with the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement â was widely held accountable for the countryâs collapse and bankruptcy. The Popular Orthodox Rally saw an opportunity and jumped at the chance to back a unity government of technocrats in order to âsave the country.â A year later, though, the Popular Orthodox Rally also collapsed due to the governmentâs austerity measures, crashing out of the parliament.
It was during this 2012 election that Golden Dawn emerged as the far rightâs new political force. Many Popular Orthodox Rally voters moved en bloc to Golden Dawn, along with angry far-right voters who had previously supported New Democracy â making the neo-Nazis Greeceâs third-largest party.
Yet Voridis, Georgiadis and Thanos Plevris headed in the opposite decision: Rather than enlist with Golden Dawn, they joined New Democracy under the stewardship of Antonis Samaras, who promptly hailed them as his ânew talents.â
Voridis and Georgiadis were appointed ministers in Samarasâ government between 2012-2015 (Voridis succeeded Georgiadis as health minister), almost as if they were being rewarded for their ultranationalist background and fiery political presence.
Their popularity rose within the party and after Mitsotakis â who is from one of the countryâs best-known political dynasties â became New Democracyâs leader following its poor showing in the September 2015 election, he immediately named Georgiadis the partyâs new vice president. Voridis, meanwhile, became the partyâs parliamentary spokesman.
This sent a very strong and clear message for far-right voters to âreturn homeâ â especially with various Golden Dawn leaders on trial and facing jail sentences if they are found guilty of murdering an anti-fascist rapper in 2013 and for dozens of violent attacks.
What came next was pretty predictable: A host of conservative politicians started feeling more comfortable projecting their far-right political agenda within New Democracy. These include Angelos Syrigos, a member of the nationalist think tank Network 21, who once said that ârefugees are dreaming of bringing the Arab Spring to Greeceâ; former TV presenter Constantinos Bogdanos, who just said âthe amount of votesâ he took âmeans that some âpatriotsâ voted for us instead of Golden Dawnâ; Konstantinos Kyranakis, who stated that âsubsidies for parents should be given only to children that are born of Greek parentsâ; former basketball star Vassilis Kikilias, who has equated Syriza with terrorism, and many others at all levels of the party.
This was exactly what Mitsotakis needed to win voters back from Golden Dawn and return to power. The result is that many populist politicians were elected on New Democracyâs slate; Georgiadis was appointed development and investments minister; and Voridis is the new agriculture minister. Thanos Plevris remains a parliamentarian.
In the meantime, another far-right populist party, Greek Solution, has just made it into the parliament, led by Kyriakos Velopoulos â another prominent figure from the Popular Orthodox Rally and former comrade of the âthree musketeers.â His partyâs policies include building a 200-kilometer (125-mile) wall along the Turkish border to keep migrants out, and getting rid of overseas nongovernmental organizations.
If you were to ask those âmusketeersâ today about their anti-Semitic or hard-core nationalistic past, they would all no doubt deny it. Georgiadis recently joined a protest at a Jewish cemetery in Athens after it was vandalized, where he and apologized for his promotion of the Holocaust-denying book, calling it his biggest mistake. Furthermore, he appears to have become a fan of Benjamin Netanyahu, retweeting Haaretzâs May 2018 story about an infamous âFuck Turkeyâ Instagram post by the prime ministerâs son, Yair Netanyahu. Quite awkward, but not completely unprecedented.
Is his seeming reversal sincere? Maybe he really has decided to change his mind-set? Well, it may have sounded more honest and acceptable if he had also renounced racism, xenophobia and his far-right agenda, which still remains identical to the days of yore â and not just the anti-Semitism. Otherwise, it might be taken as just another strategic maneuver in the dark of far-right politics.