World Bulletin / News Desk

The leader of Britain’s far-right British Nationalist Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, pledged his support for far-right Greek party Golden Dawn during a visit to the Greek capital Athens.

Griffin’s speech at a conference in Athens on Friday expressed support for Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos, who was imprisoned after a left-wing rapper was killed by alleged Golden Dawn affiliates. Describing the crackdown on Golden Dawn as a "pseudo-legal war," Griffin cried "Long live freedom, victory to Golden Dawn…our time will come."

Support for Greece’s Golden Dawn party has increased over the past few years as they voice their strong opposition to EU-enforced austerity measures and immigration. They have also held many protests against plans to build the first mosque in Athens, the only European capital city without a mosque, to cater for the city’s growing Muslim population.

Although, like in much of Europe, growing sentiment for the far-right in the UK has also seen Griffin’s party becoming increasingly popular in his home country, the BNP has failed to gain as much political relevance in the UK as its Greek counterpart. While the BNP’s attempt to portray itself as a more moderate party in recent years to gain some relevance in mainstream British politics, it has lost some of its more hardcore, extreme supporters.

Griffin had previously expressed his support for Golden Dawn, saying that he was in "full solidarity with Greek patriots being persecuted by the system as a consequence of their fast growing support among ordinary Greeks".