Golden Dawn in Greece, or, the EU Had Better Wise Up

Unemployment in the Eurozone has topped 12 percent, and nobody in power has any plan to do anything about it. When I wrote about this two weeks ago I mused that this might lead to a fascist or communist party winning an election somewhere in the continent. And in today's news:

Golden Dawn, the fascist neo-Nazi group, which was once considered a fringe party within Greece, gained international attention when they picked up 18 seats in the Greek Parliament last year. Now, with an 11.5% approval rating within Greece, they appear to be setting their sights beyond the country's borders. . . .

The extremist group, which forged links with British neo-Nazis when it was founded in the 1980s, has begun opening offices in Germany, Australia, Canada and the US. The group – whose logo resembles the swastika and whose members are prone to give Nazi salutes – has gone from strength to strength, promoting itself as the only force willing to take on the "rotten establishment". . . .

Despite the expected outcry from virtually all of western society (Golden Dawn’s target audience), it does not appear that they care one bit about angry rhetoric from their opposition. In light of Greece’s financial disaster, as well as the support they have from both the Greek community and other neo-Nazi organizations, they have no reason to care.

The sad thing is, they and the anarchists really are the only ones taking on the rotten establishment. At the moment their support may only be 12%, but after another year of economic turmoil, who knows? Add in the similar level of support for far left parties, and you start to get into untenable territory. The German crisis of the 1930s began when the Nazis and the communists between them got over half the seats in Parliament, preventing it from taking any action. I believe that if the European economy continues to sink, something like that might well happen in Greece, Cyprus, or even Italy. Would that get the central bankers' attention? Or would they still insist that austerity and low inflation are the only way?

I believe that the strong public consensus against extremist parties is one of Europe's most important assets; it is this, much more than the institutions of the EU, that has led to 65 years of peace. It angers me that northern European politicians and voters don't care enough about massive unemployment in the south to lift a finger to help, and I worry that this will lead to a revival of extremist ideologies all across the Mediterranean arc.