Popular Orthodox Rally

The Popular Orthodox Synagermos (Greek Λαϊκός Ορθόδοξος Συναγερμός, German, Völkischer Orthodox Alarm ', also, People's Orthodox Alarm', in short: Greek ΛΑ.Ο.Σ. or LA.OS, with emphasis on the "o" as λαός laós 'people' ) is a right-wing populist and ultra-right Greek party and member of the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy ( EFD) of the European Parliament.

Party's founding

LA.O.S. was founded on 14 September 2000 by former journalist Georgios Karatzaferis. Karatzaferis had previously been excluded, after a falling out with Kostas Karamanlis, of the conservative party New Democracy.

Programmatic alignment

The policy of LA.O.S. is characterized by restrictive immigration policies, ethnic nationalism, globalization hostility and a sharp Orthodox Christian conservatism. The political scientist Richard Stöss they additionally referred to as " extreme right " and assigns the LA.OS as " nationalist and neo- racist, more system- critical" one.

In foreign policy, the party enters a for an expansive defense policy and a hard line against Turkey, Macedonia and Albania. She is committed to further strengthening of relations with Russia and Serbia and demanded an immediate withdrawal of international forces from Kosovo.

Self-understanding

The party itself is understood as absolutely democratic, " orthodox " folkish, anthropocentric, modern and hellenozentrische party. Furthermore, they officially declared that they neither dogmatic anti- American nor dogmatically anti-European, and further, that they are not nationalist, not extreme right, no racist and no religious fundamentalist party was.

Criticism: Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism and fascism

In stark contrast to the official version, are the positions and appearances by senior party members and the party founder Karatzaferis himself, who already struck several times by anti-Semitic hate speech. At the founding congress of LA.OS in 2000, he called, " a parliament without Masons, without homosexuals, without dependent Zionism " to vote, and called on the Israeli ambassador in Greece to him about " the Holocaust, the Auschwitz - and Dachau myth " to debate. In 2001 he said, "The Jews have no right to speak in Greece and provoke the political world. Your impudence is crass. "

Karatzaferis also collaborated with the Holocaust deniers and proponents - Konstantinos Plevris, the ideological father of the Nazi party Golden Dawn. For LA.O.S. Parliament sat from 2007 whose son Athanasios Plevris, although it distanced itself from the remarks of his father, whose acquittal in court, where he had his father also represented by counsel, but enthusiastically commented that there had just been proven that there is freedom in Greece.

How Plevris stood as a candidate in the parliamentary elections in June 2012, Adonis Georgiadis and Makis Voridis for LA.OS Voridis presented the authenticity of the diary of Anne Frank in question, however, held the anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion for a possibly but authentic document of Jewish conspiracy. As a youth he was active in a violent, fascist student group. Since 2011, the infrastructure minister, he was expelled from the party on 10 February 2012 because of his support of austerity and stepped over to the conservative New Democracy. Adonis Georgiadis, however, of "The Jews - the whole truth " for Konstantinos Plevris ' anti- Semitic book promoted and defended his statements had Varidis followed after the election defeat in June 2012 with the ruling party and was appointed in June 2013 as the new Minister of Health.

Positions

The basic ideology of the party is based on the theory that there can be no party programmatic divisions in right, left or center more after the decline of real existing socialism and must. This subdivision is in the opinion of LA.O.S. given way to an attitude in which parties speak out either for or against globalization. LA.O.S. is decided against globalization. LA.O.S. takes the position that the Greeks should abandon the traditional boundaries between left, right and center and should focus on their common interests. So showed during the election campaign for the 2007 parliamentary elections posters of the LA.OS Georgios Karatzaferis with a boxing glove and a request that all Greeks would have to be a fist. The second concerns the view that Turkey is neither geographically nor culturally part of Europe, and thus an EU accession of Turkey would be prevented.

Since the de facto merger of the party with other small right-wing parties like the Elliniko Metopo ( Hellenic Front), the party has not only strengthened their position, but also included a number of officials in their ranks who had replied to the public multiple highly racist and anti-Semitic have. Another important feature of this party is to be mentioned because of the politically strong Greek Left (KKE, SYRIZA ) of anti-communism.

At the European level LA.O.S. Part of the disbanded late 2008 Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe, a eurosceptic party alliance, which is part of the European Parliament Independence and Democracy Group was. The only member of the European Parliament LA.OS, Georgios Georgiou, said in early February 2009 his conversion to the newly established European party Libertas, which is also Eurosceptic and the Treaty of Lisbon refuses. Both, however, the Alliance of Independent Democrats and Libertas presented their activities later.

Election results

In the parliamentary elections in September 2007 drew LA.OS with 3.8% and so with ten MPs in the parliament, in the parliamentary elections in March 2004 was LA.OS failed due to the three- percent threshold (2.2%), but could send in the European elections in June 2004 at 4.2%, a deputy to the European Parliament. After the European elections in June 2009, the party has 7.13 % over two deputies in the European Parliament. In the parliamentary elections in October 2009, the party has achieved its best results with 5.63% and 15 deputies. In August 2011, the Group increased by a deputy, as the then ND MP Mr Konstantinos KILTIDIS went over to LAOS.

In the parliamentary elections in May 2012, the party coincided with a result of 2.9% below the three percent limit, falling short of the entry into the Greek Parliament. Since this choice yielded no working majority, found on June 17, again held parliamentary elections. The party succeeded in this election with a greatly deteriorated result of 1.58 %, once again not a place in parliament.

Temporary government participation

LA.O.S. participated on 11 November 2011, the coalition government of Loukas Papademos with four members. Makis Voridis took over the post of the Minister of Transport, Asterios Rondoulis the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Development and Food, Georgios Georgiou, the deputy defense minister; Andonis Georgiadis served as Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs. On 10 February 2012 withdrew LA.O.S. the government's support, as the party was no longer prepared to support the drastic austerity measures, which were made by the EU, ECB and IMF as a condition for further assistance. Makis and Andonis Georgiadis Voridis were then over to New Democracy.