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Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias urged SYRIZA to isolate its "extreme elements." At the same time, he rejected accusations that phones of MPS and the leader of the largest opposition party are tapped. In an interview for Ta Nea newspaper, Dendias said that it could be argued that the entire party is extremist, particularly if one takes into account that 27% of Greeks voted for it.

Asked about the issue of tracking, he said that no department of the Ministry can, and is allowed to, track political party members or its leader. Speaking about article 187 of the Penal Code for the creation of a criminal organization, Dendias noted that it does not apply to parties, but to "those who operate as mafia."

In parallel, the Minister rejected criticism that the government was late in terms of taking actions against Golden Dawn and acted only after the murder of Pavlos Fyssas in Keratsini. "After the murder, there was a clear picture that there was a whole organization behind the physical perpetrator and probable moral instigator. The relationship could be demonstrated," he said.

Regarding tolerance and especially New Democracy’s tolerance of Golden Dawn, Dendias replied: "I think that political forces in Greece in general showed frustration for a long period. This is understandable, since there has not been an organization like Golden Dawn in the Greek Parliament before now, at least not after the war. This is a party that has won 7% of the vote. Therefore, society has partially legalized it for its own reasons, which are not acceptable for me, but I respect them because of the Constitution." For this reason, according to Dendias, time was needed so that its behaviour could be revealed and its criminal activities proved and in order for the government to be able to credibly address the judicial system, since if this was done without sufficient evidence, the public opinion could have perceived it as a prosecution for political reasons.

SYRIZA: Dendias is faithful to Samaras’s dangerous political line

SYRIZA reacted to the interview with Dendias. In a statement, the party said that the Minister of Public Order is faithful to the dangerous political line that Samaras has outlined and hypocritically denied the government's responsibility for the activities of the Golden Dawn party, and repeated Samaras’s words about the two extremes, albeit more moderately in comparison to him.

SYRIZA accused Dendias that instead of exercising self-criticism because of his promises for foreign newspapers about lawsuits in terms of his findings, at the same time that he allowed Golden Dawn to act freely and turned a blind eye to dozens of accusations by SYRIZA and international organizations, he blames SYRIZA itself of not acting instead of him.

"We do not know whether the Minister has received SYRIZA’s requests for the arrest of perpetrators of at least 32 crimes, but it is our duty to bring to attention again the questions of the largest opposition party, to which he did not reply," said the statement.

SYRIZA urges Dendias, albeit belatedly, to condemn statements by his party members, who flirted with the idea of a joint government with this criminal organization and isolate, albeit belatedly, extremists of New Democracy. According to the party, people do not have selective memory like Dendias himself and know very well who adopted the policy of division.

"What is becoming clearer every day is that the hopeless attempt to hide the responsibility for the crimes of Nazis has been in vain. Their isolation from society not only does not decrease by targeting SYRIZA, but it even becomes greater," ends the statement.

Dimitris Papadimoulis: they should not play with fire

In an interview for The Real News, SYRIZA parliamentary representative Dimitris Papadimoulis urged New Democracy not to play with fire. He spoke of certain extremists who "unfortunately, are people of Antonis Samaras" and are making plans for provocations and destabilization. Papadimoulis accused the Prime Minister of explosive behaviour, since he has made a parallel between Golden Dawn and those who disagree with him about the EU and NATO, and added that Samaras's call for a common front against Golden Dawn was hypocritical.

Panagiotis Lafazanis: there are extreme elements in New Democracy

The other SYRIZA parliamentary representative Panagiotis Lafazanis also counterattacked. "The fact that Dendias speaks of extreme elements in SYRIZA unfortunately reproduces the theory of the two extremes. This theory aims at drawing a parallel between the Left and Golden Dawn, undermines democracy and leads to anomalies in the country," he said. Lafazanis claimed that Dendias knows very well that there are extremists in New Democracy, and they are the ones who set the direction of the government policy.

"We have a government that is destroying the country financially and socially and endangers its future with its dangerous theories of the two extremes, the inspirer of which is the Prime Minister himself, but unfortunately, the Minister of Public Order follows him and his role should be different," said Lafazanis.

Golden Dawn: Violence is promoted by New Democracy and SYRIZA