NEWS

Tight security in place for City of Athens ceremony as GD MP, supporters to attend

Tight security measures are in place for the swearing-in ceremony for Athens City Council on Friday afternoon as among those attending are Ourania Michaloliakou, who is the daughter of detained Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos, and Ilias Kasidiaris, the spokesman for the neofascist party who has been granted a day’s leave from pre-trial custody to attend the ceremony.

Anti-fascist groups are planning to hold a protest at the venue in Gazi, near central Athens, where the ceremony is to be held while dozens of GD members and supporters are expected to be in attendance, fueling fears of possible tensions or even clashes between the two sides.

Giorgos Kaminis, who will be reappointed as mayor of Athens, has clashed with GD in the past, notably over the party’s attempt to hold food distributions in front of Syntagma Square.

Tension between GD supporters and anti-fascist protesters marked the swearing-in ceremonies of municipal authorities in Thessaloniki and regional authorities in central Macedonia earlier this week.

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