September 26, 2013 | 1029 GMT
Summary
(STR/AFP/Getty
Images)
The Golden Dawn
party demonstrate in front of the parliament building in Athens in May.
The popularity
of Greece's Golden Dawn, a far-right political party, has fallen slightly since
one of its supporters allegedly murdered an anti-fascist musician on Sept. 18, and although Athens would like to curb the group's influence further, it
will be too preoccupied with Greece's economic problems to manage fringe
movements adequately. Thus there is still some room for Golden Dawn and similar
parties to regain any support they may have lost.
Analysis
Since its
inception in the 1980s, Golden Dawn has never shied from expressing its
nationalist beliefs, its aversion to immigrants and, in recent years, its
opposition to the Greek bailout and to mainstream political parties. Discontent
surrounding the Greek economic crisis -- and the government's subsequent
austerity measures -- was a boon to the party's popularity. Golden Dawn has
attracted the disgruntled and the unemployed, sometimes targeting schools,
youth clubs and social media outlets to populate its ranks. Though it comprises
mostly youths, the party has become increasingly popular among older Greeks
afflicted by their own economic hardships.
In fact, Golden
Dawn became so popular that it won 18 (of 300) seats in the 2012 parliamentary
elections. However, according to a
recent poll by Greek newspaper Eleftheros Typos, the party's popularity
popularity fell from 8.3 percent on Sept. 15 to 5.8 percent on Sept. 21. The
rapid decline in popular support is unsurprising; the murder of activist and
musician Pavlos Fyssas was highly publicized, and it is still widely discussed
in Greek media. However, none of the social or economic conditions that
facilitated the group's rise has changed, so Golden Dawn may rebound from the
incident somewhat easily.
Allegations
What bothers
many about Golden Dawn is its alleged cooperation with vigilante groups and
with security forces. Over the past several years, vigilante groups have
surfaced in such Athens neighborhoods as Agios Panteleimonas and Attiki, which
are predominated populated by immigrants. These groups purport to protect Greek
citizens, claiming they are filling a void left by overworked and underpaid
police. However, they reportedly have attacked immigrants in an effort to
encourage them to leave the country.
Notably, these
groups hold some of the same nationalist beliefs as Golden Dawn, which has been
accused of mobilizing them, and even of fighting alongside vigilante group
members. So far, there has been no evidence suggesting vigilantism occurs at
the behest of Golden Dawn.
There have also
been allegations that Golden Dawn has worked with Greek police and the
military. Before the group's creation, founder Nikolaos Michaloliakos had a
close working relationship with the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. This relationship imparted a military mentality on Golden Dawn -- its
members wear clothing that resemble military uniforms, its structure is akin to
the military's, and they employ nearly the same tactics and weapons when they take
to the streets. Coupled with a nationalist ideology, the group has been able to garner ideological and political support from the armed
forces. In fact, when Greece became a democracy in 1974, most law enforcement
and military personnel supported far-right parties.
That support
appears to have continued. When anarchists and anti-fascists protest, they
usually will engage police, sometimes violently. But when Golden Dawn members
protest, police have been seen to ignore them. There have even been allegations
that the police protect them. Indeed, when a group of Golden Dawn members
attacked Fyssas on Sept. 18, witnesses reported that police simply stood by and
even allowed the group to escape. Golden Dawn supporter Giorgios Roupakias
later confessed to stabbing Fyssas and eventually was arrested.
On Sept. 23, the
Greek government launched an investigation into the Greek police amid the
allegations. This led to the resignations and transfers of several police
officers. While there are conflicting reports as to why the police officers
were punished, some speculate their dismissals reflect the government's efforts
to clamp down on Golden Dawn's activities, as well as those of complicit police
officers.
But the rumors
of collusion have not stopped. According to Greek newspapers Sunday Vima and
Ehtnos, Greek special forces were recently accused of training Golden Dawn
members to conduct assassinations. No evidence has surfaced to corroborate
these accusations.
Moreover, Greek
police and Golden Dawn allegedly have jointly plotted attacks and robberies in
Greece. In February, authorities arrested 23 people, including members of
Golden Dawn, Greek police and relatives of police, suspected of responsibility
in numerous bank robberies and ATM burglaries throughout Athens, as well as a
plot to carry out an armed attack on an unknown target. A policeman from Kavala
reportedly provided Golden Dawn members and police officers with explosives and
bulletproof vests.
The Future of Golden
Dawn
As a political
party that favors grassroots support, particularly involving those afflicted by
the economic crisis, Golden Dawn has an ideal recruitment ground in Greece. The
group provides some Greeks a means to act out and voice their anger at the Greek
government in a way that they otherwise would have not chosen to.
But because
Greek and international media have so heavily covered the recent killing,
Athens is under pressure to respond to Golden Dawn. There will likely continue
to be cosmetic changes involving Greek police and strong statements from Greek
politicians against Golden Dawn, but they will be of little consequence. Golden
Dawn probably will keep a low profile until the outrage stemming from the
murder passes, but the group eventually will resume its nationalistic campaign
against immigrants and the Greek government -- which will further threaten
stability. However, if Golden Dawn is banned, it will likely be replaced by a
similar party, because the Greek crisis offers fertile ground for these parties
to grow.
