Extreme-right Greek party linked to neo-Nazi ideology holds ceremony on Albanian seaside town on the third anniversary of controversial death of local man.
HIMARA, Aug. 11 – Members of Golden Dawn, the Greek extreme right wing party whose association with neo-Nazi ideology and representation in the Greek parliament have shocked Europe, held a ceremony in a town on the southern Albania coast, vowing “war” with Albania and pushing and shoving Albanian journalists who were filming the ceremony from a public sidewalk.
Himara is home to a substantial Greek-speaking community and also serves as a major holiday destination over the summer months. Albania does not recognize the area as a Greek minority municipality, seeing the inhabitants as Greek-speaking ethnic Albanians, which has led to some tension with the locals and those advocating for the rights of ethnic Greeks in Albania.
Golden Dawn members wearing black T-Shirts with the party’s insignia participated in a ceremony to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Aristotel Guma, who authorities say died in a car accident unrelated to his ethnicity, while some members of the Greek community say he was ran over by Albanian teenagers because he was speaking in Greek.
Golden Dawn member Kristoforos Tsankas said at the ceremony that the party will not leave Himara until “it is liberated.” While Tsankas is a Greek citizen, prompting some Albanian parties to call that he be kicked out of the country, several other Golden Dawn members seen at the ceremony are Albanian citizens.
One of the men can be heard on camera telling a local television cameraman “to go away, or I will break your camera,” as he pushed him away in an area that is public property.
Those participating in the ceremony kicked the local priest out of the church premises after he refused to perform a religious ceremony. The church has said it does not want to get involved in a political matter, local media reported.
Albanian police watched the ceremony from afar and briefly intervened to move the man threatening the journalists away. But he was not detained.
Golden Dawn and other Greek irredentists say they want to carve out a portion of southern Albania roughly a third of the country a join it with Greece, claiming ethnic Greeks live in those areas. According to official figures, ethnic Greeks make up about two percent of Albania’s population.
