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Anastasia Balezdrova

For the first time since the practice of giving away free food, Golden Dawn failed to carry out its next action. Early in the morning, a great number of police forces blocked the central Syntagma Square in Athens and did not allow the party to unload trucks of free lambs and eggs that it had the intention of distributing at 10:00 a.m.

"Long before 07:00 a.m., the square and the streets around it were blocked by numerous police squads. There were at least 10 police cars, buses and cranes. Golden Dawn supporters numbered about 50. There were also about 40 people who wanted to receive free products for Easter. They gave the impression that they were their supporters," an eyewitness told GRReporter.

Picture: ethnos.gr

Shortly after 07:00 a.m., a truck of food products tried to reach the square in order to unload the products there, but the police stopped it at the Hotel Grande Bretagne – on the corner opposite the Parliament building. Three MPs, Ilias Kasidiaris, Ilias Panayotaros and Yiannis Lagos, reacted sharply and rushed in order to open the doors and unload the products. "They managed to open the door partially and took out several bags and started hanging them out across the street. Then the police tried to prevent them and that caused tension. The police used tear gas to disperse people and warned that there was a prosecutor's order for the arrest of members of the Golden Dawn party, who were not members of Parliament."

After the small confrontation ended, the deputies received back the truck’s keys and it headed to the headquarters of the party in the region of Athens railway station, accompanied by two police patrol cars. According to sources, two other trucks of products were supposed to arrive at Syntagma.

The action was thwarted after the categorical refusal of the Mayor of Athens Giorgos Kaminis to give permission for it. He sent his message through social networks yesterday: "In the days of reconciliation and love, Golden Dawn has decided to provoke manifestations of hatred in the most central square in the country. Such events are a challenge to every democratic citizen and seriously harm the recovery of Athens and Greece, since they send a double wrong message, both abroad and here: That a picture of abject poverty reigns over the capital city of the country, which can be changed only with the organisation of distribution of racist and xenophobic hand-outs. We want to announce to everyone that the municipality believes that tomorrow's event is illegal and will do whatever it takes to thwart its implementation." Golden Dawn responded with a series of aggressive messages and invited "the Greeks to come to Syntagma."

But today's events did not end there. Golden Dawn supporters flooded social networking sites with calls for the Greeks to go to the party headquarters at 10:00 p.m. in order to get free products for Easter.

A short while later, the news that MP George Germenis also known as Kaiadas, tried to hit the mayor of Athens, spread like wildfire among the media. George Kaminis was in the municipal building, which houses the "Social grocery" when the husky MP attacked him. Guards of the mayor managed to pull him away in time, but the blow was taken by a 12-year-old girl. In his statement after the attack, the mayor of Athens said that, according to witnesses, the Golden Dawn MP was carrying a gun.

Later, the mayor of Athens said that he would file a complaint against the neo-Nazi party MP. An official statement issued by the Greek police on the occasion confirmed the attack against George Germenis. "He was escorted outside by members of the mayor’s personal security. The case will be investigated because of the accusation that George Germenis showed a gun during the attack," reads the statement.