Golden Dawn MPs halt council meeting over ‘Macedonia’ talks
As the latest United Nations-mediated effort to resolve a dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) gets under way, MPs and supporters of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party have stepped up their protests, interrupting a session of Thessaloniki’s municipal authority on Tuesday night.
Local GD MP Artemis Matthaiopoulos, along with fellow lawmakers Antonis Gregos, Christos Hatzisavvas and regional councilor Nikos Chrysomallis entered the meeting, shouted nationalist slogans and scattered fliers.
It appears that a refusal by Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris to discuss an appeal by Matthaiopoulos for a debate on the FYROM talks sparked the intervention. Boutaris was unmoved.
“He deserves my utter condescension,” Boutaris said, referring to Matthaiopoulos.
“I cannot associate with such people,” he added.
