AJC chief Harris sees Baltakos video as ‘damning,’ puts faith in PM to act
American Jewish Committee executive director David Harris has labelled as “damning” the video of former cabinet secretary Panayiotis Baltakos speaking to Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris.
“What Mr. Baltakos did is an affront to Prime Minister Samaras and to the vast majority of the Greek people,” said Harris, according to the AJC’s website.
“Meeting with Golden Dawn is shocking enough by itself, but expressing sympathy for the party or, in reality, the criminal organization, as the government has declared is beyond belief.”
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras spoke at an AJC reception in New York in September, shortly after Golden Dawn’s leadership was arrested, and he vowed to clamp down on the party’s illegal activities.
“It is important to me to deracinate this group,” he told his audience. “There is no room for the neo-Nazis in any part of the democratic world.”
“This incident must have been a real shock for Prime Minister Samaras, who has shown such strong moral and political leadership in confronting Golden Dawn,” Harris said of the Baltakos video.
“At the same time, we are encouraged that the prime minister and Greece’s judicial and legislative bodies will continue to pursue Golden Dawn, whose racism and xenophobia threaten democratic Greece.”
