The national socialist Golden Dawn party is at the centre of another political row in Greece after one of its MPs was expelled from parliament amid cries of “Heil Hitler”.The sitting president had already warned Panayiotis Iliopoulos for repeatedly violating parliamentary rules by insulting fellow deputies. After he had called them “goats”, “scoundrels” and “wretched people”, security guards were called to lead him away. The phrase "Heil Hitler" was clearly heard three times – although who shouted it is in dispute.
Golden Dawn claims the cries came from left-wing deputies from the opposition Syriza party. However, Stavros Kontonis, an MP from Syriza, is having none of it. “For the second time this week we hear Hitler being glorified inside parliament by Golden Dawn MPs. It’s strange the fact that in order to distance themselves from praising Hitler in a provocative way, they claimed it was me who uttered this phrase ironically. But this is refuted by their own evidence,” he said.