Hard Times Lift Greece’s Anti-Immigrant Fringe

By RACHEL DONADIO and DIMITRIS BOUNIAS

Nikos Pilos for The New York Times
Nikos Michaloliakos, the leader of Golden Dawn, greeted voters this month in Megara, Greece. Many polls indicate that in the national elections scheduled for May 6, Golden Dawn may surpass the 3 percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. The group has been campaigning on the streets, something that mainstream politicians have avoided for fear of angry reactions by voters who blame them for Greece’s economic collapse.

ATHENS — On a recent morning in the upper-middle-class neighborhood of Papagou here, members of the Greek ultranationalist group Golden Dawn stood at an outdoor vegetable market campaigning for the coming national elections. “This is our party’s program, for a clean Greece, only for Greeks, a safe Greece,” Ilias Panagiotaros, the group’s spokesman and a candidate for office, said as he handed out leaflets.

He approached an older woman, who recounted how a relative had been robbed of about $800. “They threw her on the ground, they took the 600 euros she had withdrawn from the bank to pay for her husband’s nursing home,” the woman said. “She was even a Communist, and she told me, ‘I’m going to Golden Dawn to report this.’ ”

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April 13, 2012

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1. Philip Vorgias wrote on April 13, 2012 1:34 PM	Political Parties like Golden Dawn garner support when the main parties aren't doing the job. You mean to tell me that with 1,000,000 in Greece on the public payroll they state can't police a 125 km border with Turkey??? Give me a fricking break! 500 border police could easily stop the illegal immigration but the Greek politicians lack the balls, the resolve or the will to do what's necessary-so Golden Dawn's political prospects rise and justifiably so. When you're impotent, don't blame the mailman for doing your 'homework' for you!!

2. Nicholas Kostopoulos wrote on April 13, 2012 11:45 PM	What do you expect from a corrupt and incompetent government. Inside of policing their border they are building detention centers to house all these illegals, and claiming it is giving Greece more jobs. What a mess. Reminds me as to what the US is doing with its illegal aliens.
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Friday, May 24, 2013 Last Update: 1:44 AM ET