Bogdanos reacts to expulsion from ND parliamentary group
Konstantinos Bogdanos on Wednesday expressed his “regret” over Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ decision to expel him from New Democracy’s parliamentary group after he claimed during a debate in Parliament that communists are a bigger threat to Greece than Turkey.
“[Having] clear cut ideological views unfortunately has a cost in politics,” Bogdanos said in a post on social media. “Certain truths cannot be spoken without consequences,” he added.
In August, Bogdanos had laid a wreath at the site of a 1946-49 civl war battle, as did representatives of the outlawed neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group and a representative of jailed former Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris. While Bogdanos admitted he attended the event, he said another colleague also did.
Afterward, the foreign minister, Nikos Dendias, condemned Bogdanos’ contribution.
“We are not here to return to the bad past of our country but to discuss the survival of the country in the future,” Dendias said.
“The association with Kasidiaris is unacceptable and the laying of a wreath with Golden Dawn is also unacceptable,” he added.
Last month, Bogdanos was issued with a final warning from the conservative party after he retweeted a post which listed the names of migrant children at a kindergarten in Athens.
A press release from the prime minister’s office on Tuesday said Mitsotakis was informed about Bogdanos’ comments and decided to expel him.
Mitsotakis is in Slovenia to attend the informal European Council meeting and Wednesday’s European Union – Western Balkans Summit.
