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Meander greek person9/11/2023 ![]() Later, the Wolfsangel runic symbol was utilized in order to associate the magazine with the Nazi SS heritage. The first four editions of the magazine had a round swastika on the front cover. It openly supported the legacy of the Greek colonels who seized power in a fascist coup in April 1967 with the backing of the CIA. Originally a closed national-socialist club with an agenda of indoctrination, the party evolved to publish the homonymous monthly magazine, Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn was founded in 1980 by Nikolaos Michaloliakos, currently imprisoned, alongside the leadership of the party, on four charges: belonging to a criminal organization arson direction of murders and attempted murders and anti-constitutional acts. All of them were MPs of LAOS ( Laikos Orthodoxos Sinagermos) the Popular Orthodox Rally party launched by Konstantinos Karatzaferis in 2000 after he was expelled from New Democracy. Another figure, Adonis Georgiadis, is currently Minister of National Development and Investments. Many members of these groups (who will be discussed further below) were former low-ranking members of GD who participated in its infamous “attack battalions.”Īt a more official level, the New Democracy right-wing governing party has included former far-right politicians, such as Interior Minister Makis Voridis and Health Minister Thanos Plevris, son of GD’s Konstantinos Plevris. Not all these groups are openly neo-Nazi, but those that are usually function on the fringes of legality and work in obscurity. These widely divided groups often work as communication vessels announcing alliances and divisions (depending on the circumstances). While a significant number of Golden Dawn’s voters and supporters voted for Velopoulos’ Greek Solution, many other smaller organizations, including neo-Nazi groupuscules, intend to capitalize on the party’s fall. It was Lagos who launched ELASYN ( Ethniki Laiki Sinidisi), the “National Popular Conscience” party, alongside Konstantinos Plevris, otherwise known as the patriarch of Greek neo-fascism. Another important factional figure is Giannis Lagos, a former GD MEP and high-ranking member who has been condemned to 13 years in prison-a sentence imposed on each member of the GD leadership. ![]() Despite Kasidaris’ imprisonment, he enjoys considerable comforts and has over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. In addition to those who have gone over to Velopoulos’ “Greek Solution,” a substantial fraction of heavily radicalized voters with a neo-Nazi ideology are now supporting other groupings on the right, and it is important to note that GD always had many internal divisions between its high-ranking members and leadership.Īn important example of these divisions is the split between GD founder Nikos Michaloliakos and the much younger Ilias Kasidiaris, former GD spokesman, who founded the “Greeks for the Fatherland” Party in 2020, shortly before the court’s decision. Already in the summer 2019 elections, GD had failed to elect any MPs to the Hellenic Parliament instead, the far-right party “Greek Solution” under its President Kyriakos Velopoulos gained many of GD’s supporters, electing ten MPs with 3.70% of the vote and one MEP in the European Parliament with 4.18%. ![]() A post-Golden Dawn Sceneįollowing the court decision, Golden Dawn officially disappeared from the political life of the country, but its political legacy has left other neo-Nazi groups and far-right parties to use the vacancy to their benefit. This article summarizes the role of Golden Dawn and identifies some of its allied and derivative elements. Despite Golden Dawn’s conviction as a political organization and the subsequent imprisonment of its leadership, the normalization of far right’s activism in Greece has continued to thrive under different circumstances. The party itself was ruled a criminal organization and, accordingly, banned. In total, more than 500 years in jail time were imposed on those convicted. According to The Guardian, it was the “biggest trial of fascists since the prosecution of the Nazis at Nuremberg.” More than 68 accused persons stood on trial for violent criminal activity, including murder, with the vast majority receiving prison sentences. No other neo-Nazi party has attracted so much public attention in Greece and Europe. The trial of the leading Greek fascist party, Golden Dawn (GD), began in April 2015 and concluded on October 2020. March 2015,” by DTRocks licensed under CC BY SA 4.0. Cover photo: “Golden Dawn members hold flags with the meander symbol at a rally outside of a party HW.
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