Theodorakis announces tour of Golden Dawn strongholds

The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party election results in many areas, including the Attica region, has alarmed pundits and political party executives alike. They all agree there should be a public debate about the reasons for the rise of GD's popularity, in spite of the judiciary's accusations that it is a "criminal organization".

The River (To Potami) party leader Stavros Theodorakis, in a televised press conference, commented on the performance of Golden Dawn (GD) in Sunday's local government elections, noting that it would be very negative for the country if a party that advocates violence has a strong showing in the European elections.

He characterized GD as a “ghost of the past” and announced that he will change his itinerary and start a tour of the regions where the ultra-right party has a strong presence to understand “why these people feel isolated by the system and are led to such extreme solutions”.

He said that The River should occupy at least the third place in the European elections and referring to last Sunday's election result, he noted that no safe political conclusions can be drawn.

Theodorakis also said that a future cooperation with New Democracy or SYRIZA will be on the basis of the 20 proposals his party has presented and reiterated that he will leave The River if it gathers less than 5% of the vote in next Sunday's European elections.