Rightwing extremists want mines on Evros border

Golden Dawn members commemorate the anniversary of the Imia incident between Greece and Turkey (Photo: Eurokinissi) The message, as ever with ultra rightwing party Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avyi), is simple. No unregistered immigrants are welcome here, no unregistered immigrants are wanted.   Their position has been reiterated following the plan green lit by the citizen protection ministry to allow for the establishment of 30 detention centres throughout the country for unregistered immigrants.   Running with the banner “No detention centers, no acceptance of illegals”, Golden Dawn has even gone as far as challenging the very essence of the Ottawa treaty, which in 1997 outlawed the production and use of anti-personnel mines.   In a press statement, the extreme rightwing party noted that the Ottawa treaty should be negated and that anti-personnel mines should be deployed along the Evros border region, the prime entry point for unregistered immigrants entering the country.   “No detention centre is going to have any effect on the immigrant problem,” the statement read. “Our Evros border is a sieve and everyday more than 300 immigrants invade our country.”   Further to demanding the negation of the Ottawa treaty, Golden Dawn also goes on the warpath against specific political representatives. “We need immediate action, not the pre-election fairy tales that [Citizen Protection Minister) Michalis Chrysochoidis is proposing. His plans will go the exact same way as (the previous minister) Christos Papoutsis’ infamous border fence.”   The rightwing extremists also proposed that special forces units be positioned along the Evros border, with a green light lit at all times, allowing them to open fire at will.   Golden Dawn, which has experienced a rise in popularity ever since the financial crisis wrapped its fingers tightly around Greek society, appears likely to cross the three-percent threshold to enter parliament in the forthcoming elections.   It already holds a seat on Athens municipal council, where its leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, gave the Nazi salute at a meeting of body in January 2011.   When asked by this newspaper in May 2011 whether he was a Nazi sympathiser, Michaloliakos responded: “Nazi was the abbreviation of a party that was nationalist. I am a nationalist.”