In response to Holocaust denial comments made by a member of the Greek parliament, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged the Greek government to resolve differences within its coalition and swiftly pass new anti-racism legislation currently under consideration.

On June 6, Ilias Kasidiaris, from the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, referred to a Greek-Israeli businessman and the parliamentary committee investigating tax evasion, saying that “The Jew Sabby Mionis is key to this case…he won’t come to this committee because there are Holocaust deniers on it. And indeed there are Holocaust deniers on it.”

“Mr. Kasidiaris was clearly referring to himself as the Holocaust denier in his hateful rhetoric since he is the only Golden Dawn member of the committee,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman. “We expect Greek leaders to condemn such appalling statements made in parliament.”

In a letter to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Foxman urged the Prime Minster to fulfill his pledge he made in his March 19 speech at the Monastiriotes Synagogue, to enact new and stringent anti-racism legislation.

Kasidiaris has a history of anti-Semitic remarks in the Greek parliament, including the reading of an excerpt in October 2012 from the anti-Semitic document, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.