Statement of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on rise of extremism and attack on Efthymiou

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 2012 – Citizens and leaders should denounce the rise in extremist political parties in the wake of recent physical attacks in Athens, leaders of the 56-country Organization for Security and Co-operation Parliamentary Assembly said today.

Meeting in Copenhagen, the members released the following statement after neo-Nazis attacked OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou Saturday while he was campaigning:

“Physical attacks, especially on elected officials and candidates, have no place in a democracy. In the wake of the recent attack on President Petros Efthymiou, we call on leaders in all political parties to denounce any and all forms of extremist rhetoric, racism, and hate speech behind this week’s incident in Athens.

“The challenges we all face amid the current global economic crisis are no reason to shed our fundamental respect for freedom, equality, and democratic values. We denounce extremist groups, like the neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn, who aim to use the global economic crisis as an opening to bring their hate speech into the public square.”

Petros Efthymiou of Greece is currently serving his second term as president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The statement was delivered on behalf of the following elected parliamentarians:

Vice-President Wolfgang Grossruck (Austria)

Vice-President Walburga Habsburg Douglas (Sweden)

Vice-President Riccardo Migliori (Italy)

Vice-President Tonino Picula (Croatia)

Vice-President Isabel Pozuelo (Spain)

Susanne Bratli (Norway), Vice-Chair of the First Committee

Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania), Rapporteur of the First Committee

Matteo Mecacci (Italy), Chair of the Third Committee

Alain Neri (France), Vice-Chair of the Third Committee

Serhiy Shevchuk (Ukraine), Chair of the Second Committee

Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom), Rapporteur of the Second Committee

Joao Soares (Portugal), President Emeritus

Speaker Jean-Francois Robillon (Monaco)

George Tsereteli (Georgia)

Peter Juel Jensen (Denmark)

This is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.