For «clear government responsibility for the explosion of neo-Nazi violence in school in Stavroupoli» and «deeply concerning manner in which it was handled by the NW of Kyriakos Mitsotakis»," said Press representative of SYRIZA-PS, Nasos Iliopoulos, in an interview with radio station «Sto Kokkino 105.5.» Mr. Iliopoulos accused the government of being «incapable of protecting the social majority in a series of crises and challenges, but perfectly capable of defending the interests of the few and powerful».
Specifically, regarding the events in Stavroupoli, he stated that «In the wider area, it is a given that there is a Golden Dawn youth hangout." and organized action by neo-Nazi elements is developing.» Citing complaints from teachers, he said that «people wearing hoods and armed with knives come and go from the school undisturbed, without any intervention from the police,» noting that the Ministry of Education and the government «are unable to even utter the word “neo-Nazi”."»He emphasized, however, that in Stavroupoli «we do not have general and vague conflicts between groups, We have neo-Nazi attacks, and the New Democracy party cannot name the problem.», commenting that «this also indicates inability to face it».
As he added, «There has never been a Minister of Education who, in a message for October 28, does not even mention the word “fascism.”" and this is indicative of the alt-right hegemony in the overall narrative of the New Democracy party. Mr. Iliopoulos argued that »not only are we dealing with the government's inability to address the problem of neo-Nazi activity in the field, but at the same time creating space for such practices to flourish». In this context, he referred to the case of «publication of infants' names by a government official, solely because they are of immigrant origin,» adding that «the entire old LAOS parliamentary group has been promoted to key ministries.».
The press representative SYRIZA, stated that «there is currently a contradiction within the New Democracy party that stems from the way in which it legitimized far-right practices, which it is now unable to manage.» He said that «This started with the way in which the New Democracy opposition handled the Prespa Agreement issue., where legitimized far-right rhetoric and conspiracy theories and managed to harness a wave of protest characterized by irrationality, extreme right-wing views, and nationalism.
According to Mr. Iliopoulos, «the relationship between the New Democracy party and the middle class and self-employed will be judged on issues of democracy and freedoms—and to the extent that SYRIZA-PS and society will highlight this in the labor, economic, and social policies of a government that clearly wants society to live worse.» In the same context, accused the government of «exacerbating inflation and the energy crisis by losing control of the Public Power Corporation.».
With regard to pandemic management, Mr. Iliopoulos compared the situation to «a hamster running on a wheel, always staying in the same place.» «Unfortunately, the government has thrown in the towel on the issue of vaccinations», he pointed out, noting that «in the most vulnerable groups over the age of 80, we have 26% unvaccinated, while in a number of EU countries, more than 95% are vaccinated». Among other things, he stressed that Greece is «the only country where, instead of discussing how to strengthen the National Health System, we are discussing how to close hospitals and clinics. However, the vaccination program cannot be implemented without strengthening primary care and mobile units.
