With former MPs and members of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn currently behind bars, it is easy to forget that the group’s offshoot in Cyprus has been growing steadily for the past ten years.
The ultra-nationalist, far-Right National Popular Front (Ethniko Laiko Metopo, ELAM) was founded in 2008 by Christos Christou, who served for many years at the side of Nicos Michaloliakos, the now imprisoned head of Golden Dawn. Now, with parliamentary elections scheduled for May, a large question mark looms over the future of the extreme Right in Cyprus. With the island mired in an ongoing pandemic, accusations of government corruption and protracted divisions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, how will ELAM fare?
ELAM officially registered as a political party in 2011, after it had unsuccessfully attempted to be recognised as ‘Golden Dawn, Cyprus Branch’ in 2008. Initially, ELAM flew under the radar and was only known for its members’ violent street attacks against migrants and minorities.
