Golden Dawn ‘unwelcome’ on Chios island, municipal council says
The entire Municipal Council of Chios and its mayor, Manolis Vournous, on Friday said that members of the far-right Golden Dawn party will be treated on the eastern Aegean island as “personae non gratae.”
The municipal council convened to vote on its stance towards the neo-Nazi party ahead of an event Golden Dawn has planned next week to present its “solution” to the refugee crisis.
“The presence of the neo-Nazi organization is a huge provocation to the island's democratic principles and the Municipality of Chios can't remain idle,” the council said in its announcement published on Friday.
“Golden Dawn members, who are under indictment, are persons unwelcome on Chios,” it said in reference to an ongoing trial against the party, which is accused of constituting a criminal organization and of orchestrating dozens of deadly attacks against migrants and vocal detractors.
“Chios is an island that has fought for national resistance and for democracy, and it sternly and categorically disapproves of the presence of Nazi descendants,” the resolution said.
Chios is host to one of five official migrant reception and processing centers in the Aegean, and has been on the front line of the refugee crisis since its start.
