The protracted crisis and descent of Golden Dawn

Greece's Golden Dawn sustained significant losses in the two recent election races in Greece. In its former stronghold of Laconia in the Peloponnese, the neo-Nazi party lost more than 50 percent of the support it had in the 2014 European Parliament elections in last month's contest.
Even though party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and other high-ranking cadres hail from the region's Mani district, some 4,300 former voters there turned their backs on the party. Behind the numbers, however, are tales of infighting, desertions and open challenges to the party's leadership.
As the trial against Golden Dawn - accused of constituting a criminal organization and orchestrating the 2013 murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas - enters the final stretch, former party officials who spoke to Kathimerini criticize the leadership, citing nepotism and insularity.
"It turns out that the...

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