Roupakiotis Says Golden Dawn Crackdown Ordered from Abroad

"Jewish-American and Greek-American organizations were coming to Greece and pressured for Golden Dawn. Obviously they played a role in developments. Obviously the prime minister had to tell them something," said the former minister in an interview with Skai media.

In essence, Mr. Roupakiotis said that the operation against Golden Dawn was set up in view of the prime minister's trip to the USA.

"We're undertaking the EU presidency starting in January and there was pressure from the Commission to do something about Golden Dawn. Commissioners Nils Muižnieks and Cecilia Maelstrom noted that we had not tendered a single law," continued Mr. Roupakiotis.

Referring to the anti-racist bill, the former minister noted that Greece will be fined starting in January because the bill has not been tendered. Mr.

Roupakiotis stated that the government is now in a hurry to pass the bill under orders from abroad.

He noted that the bill was frozen because the government did not want to polarize the climate with Golden Dawn voters in order to lure them back.