Far-right extremists attack journalists, police on Lesvos
A group of around 80 far-right extremists attacked journalists covering a government visit to the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Thursday night, the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported on Friday morning.
According to the ANA-MPA, the attacks started shortly after the end of a protest rally by local residents demanding measures to ease pressure from migrant and refugee inflows on Lesvos and other islands of the front line of the crisis.
The rally and other protest action on Thursday was meant to coincide by the arrival on Lesvos of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and several key cabinet members.
The visit was heavily guarded by riot police, who also came under attack on Thursday night.
The extremists threw rocks and flares at police and reporters from Greek and foreign agencies, as well as at locals opposing their violence.
The incident comes a few days after a group of far-right extremists violently attacked migrants holding a sit-in protest on a public square in the island’s main town, Mytilene.
