Wednesday 20 March 2013

Golden Dawn leader statement reminiscent of 1960s Greek military dictatorship

The Greek edition of the daily Kathimerini reports that the leader of the far-right party Golden Dawn, which since last year has 18 MPs in the Greek parliament, said that his movement was born 'as sent from God'.

The statement was made last Friday during an event entitled 'Greek History Lessons - The truth about 1821' that took place in a central Athens hotel conference room. 

According to the same source, Golden Dawn also announced the launch of its very own 'Foundation of Geopolitical and Historical Studies'.

See also a recent, relevant entry on The Economist's Charlemagne blog, here.

The statement is reminiscent of the Greek junta's proclamations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In particular, the reference to God is strikingly similar to one the Greek ambassador in London made while talking to British Foreign Secretary Brown in late 1967 (see p. 26 of my book on Britain and the Greek Colonels):
'[...] as far as both countries are loyal to NATO and the western
orientation of Greece is one of the basic policies, for which Britain has
fought, the revolution [sic] should be considered by the British Government
as a gift from God

 Verykios, London to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Athens, 12.09.1967.