Could the radical-right replace the radical-left in Greece? (Syriza is pro-EU, Golden Dawn is not)

Why the demise of Syriza would pose a threat to Greek democracy.

... by putting in place the conditions for Syriza’s defeat, the door could be left open to radical-right parties such as Golden Dawn, who pose a far greater challenge to both Greek democracy and the European Union.

The negotiations between the Greek government and its creditors have dominated European politics in these last months to such an extent that politicians and press alike seem to have largely forgotten about the populist radical-right, and certainly the Greek Golden Dawn. All eyes were focused on the unequal struggle between Greece’s creditors and the left-wing populists of Syriza (Syriza’s right-wing, conservative and nationalist coalition partner ANEL, the Independent Greeks, received very little attention).

Resistance to neoliberal economic policy has been beaten for now, or so it seems, even with Syriza still in power. This crisis can go in many directions. But what is clear is that the defeat of the democratic, inclusive and pro-European left-wing populist Syriza and the imposition of even harsher austerity measures on a country suffering a profound economic crisis might strengthen the radical right and perhaps also other forces that constitute a danger to democracy and stability in Greece.

Still, it remains true that the defeat of Syriza creates space for the rise of Golden Dawn, a party that is much further to the right than ANEL and that follows much more extreme and violent political strategies. A situation in which Syriza either disappears, becomes weakened, or is unable to fulfil its promises/form a government with the traditional political parties (which would constitute joining ‘the elite’ it criticised so heavily), could strengthen the Golden Dawn’s claim to be the true representative of ‘the Greek people’, the only defender of ‘Greek dignity’ and of ‘democracy’, and the only alternative to ‘the elite’.

Golden Dawn is a very different story. Its definition of ‘the Greek people’ is not open and inclusive but closed and racist. Its defence of ‘national sovereignty’ and ‘dignity’ equal the rejection of immigration, multiculturalism, and the European Union. Like Syriza, it criticises the financial elite, but it does so in a deeply anti-Semitic way. It doesn’t merely represent the Greek people against European leaders, but speaks of a clash between peoples as ethnically defined national groups. And its solidarity is not one between the poor and needy, but one limited to ethnic Greeks and hostile of foreigners (as its "Greeks only" food handouts show).

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2015/07/16/could-the-radical-right-replace-the-radical-left-in-greece-why-the-demise-of-syriza-would-pose-a-threat-to-greek-democracy/

Austerity and economic hardship has benefited the radical right often throughout history. Let's hope it does not happen in Greece.