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 Cooperation Parliamentary Assembly said on April 23.

Meeting in Copenhagen, the members released the following statement after neo-Nazis attacked OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou Saturday, April 21 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.