Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-09-21

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] SYRIZA: PM has left way open for far-right 'destabilisation' plans

[02] Jeremy Irons in Athens for 'Night Train to Lisbon' premiere

[01] SYRIZA: PM has left way open for far-right 'destabilisation' plans

A SYRIZA announcement concerning statements made by New Democracy Parliamentary spokesman Makis Voridis said that the prime minister had yet to give a clear reply on whether he considered SYRIZA an unconstitutional force and whether he "continues to adopt the historically ignorant and dangerous theory of the two extremes".

"As long as these questions remain unanswered, the appeals to isolate Golden Dawn lack content," the party stressed.

The main opposition also highlighted the role of the economic crisis in allowing the rise of Golden Dawn, saying this would not have been possible with the destruction wrought by austerity and the memorandums on Greek society.

"Only a society in a state of shock and extreme degradation, without fixed points of reference and with a complete loss of orientation, could render the neo-Nazis a Parliamentary party," SYRIZA underlined, stressing that defence of democracy and the essential front against the neo-Nazis required both a defence of political and social rights and the removal of the causes and policies that gave birth to society's degradation.

"Greek society must regain its dignity, acquire hope once again. This is the precise need expressed by SYRIZA," the announcement concluded.

In an unofficial press release analysing the events of the past week, SYRIZA described the brutal murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas in Keratsini as the "culmination of the criminal action of the far-right Nazis of Golden Dawn" and called for exemplary punishment of those responsible, as well as a "rallying of democratic citizens to isolate and root out neo-Nazism".

The main opposition party also referred to the positions expressed by New Democracy deputy of state Christos Lazaridis, the prime minister's advisor:

"We saw Samaras' right-hand man aggressively come back to the historically ignorant theory of the two extremes, which effectively gives legitimacy to the neo-Nazis by equating victims and aggressors. We saw, also, Samaras' right-hand man place the main opposition outside the constitutional arc."

The party stressed that the prime minister had failed to denounce these "opinions dangerous to democracy" but instead chosen silence and a tactical u-turn in order to fend off related reactions from within and to ameliorate the damage to Greece's image abroad due to the rise of neo-Nazism and the tolerance shown toward it by the coalition government.

[02] Jeremy Irons in Athens for 'Night Train to Lisbon' premiere

"We cannot consider that a country is characterised entirely by one incident alone, which we saw in the newspapers in the past days. Yes, of course, idiots exist who are concealed under a political title, yes, they kill people sometimes, however such incidents happen, unfortunately, around the world," Irons said, having at his side the film's Danish director Bille August.

"The specific incident does not represent Greece, the country that I know. A country with a wonderful people, a very beautiful country, that rightly attracts a huge number of tourists. It is one of my most favourable parts in the world. The whole country must not be judged by the action of an idiotic extremist, who killed an artist," he noted.

Irons added that "from the moment that there is difficulty in whatever society, the extremists gain ground and popularity. People believe that extreme solutions are the answer. It has been proved historically that the answer is not there. Moderation is everything."

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