Far-right Elam party inspired by Golden Dawn makes big gains in Cyprus elections

Cyprus’ president, Nikos Christodoulides. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA

Christodoulides was a prominent Disy cadre before he broke ranks to run for the presidency. The 52-year-old had hoped he would win its backing when, as is widely expected, he runs for the post a second time.

“If Disy doesn’t support Christodoulides’ candidacy, his only chance for re-election, formally or informally, is Elam,” said professor Hubert Faustmann, who teaches history and political science at the University of Nicosia. “Elam has increased its political significance and he is structurally more dependent on them now … he will have to cater to them.”

Christodoulides has long been accused of flirting with Elam, formed initially as an offshoot of Golden Dawn by hardliners who have never renounced the party’s racist ideology.

Ministers with sympathetic views have been appointed to his cabinet, with his government priding itself on its tough stance on immigration.

Concerns are such that Manfred Weber, who heads the EPP of centre-right parties in Europe, reportedly warned the Cypriot president last month against deepening his ties with the extremists. Weber was quoted in Politis, the well-informed daily, as telling Christodoulides it would be “impossible for him to continue to be accepted within the European centre-right” if Elam continued to be viewed as his “closest interlocutor”.

Unlike Golden Dawn, whose leaders were handed lengthy prison terms for using the organisation to operate a criminal gang that sowed terror on the streets of Greece, Elam has eschewed political violence. “Its mindset is similar to xenophobic, rightwing parties elsewhere, but it is not known for the sort of violence associated with similar groups in Europe,” said Faustmann. “They’re kindergarden fascists.”

Christodoulides, whose country currently chairs the EU presidency, has neither openly addressed the issue of an alliance with Elam nor publicly responded to the speculation that reputedly drove Weber to intervene.

“The fact is he has never denied or rejected the idea of cooperating with Elam,” said Christoforou, the political analyst. “And on critical issues like migration he has shown he won’t hesitate to take decisions that challenge political correctness. I don’t exclude the possibility that he will openly collaborate with them even if it is his image that has always been his top priority.”