Ultra-nationalists say they will not be discouraged by violence<\/p>\n
By Lizzie Dearden<\/p>\n
Source: independent.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n Young men wielding sledgehammers have attacked the headquarters of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn <\/a>party.<\/p>\n Police said several people were detained for questioning over the assault during the Friday\u00a0morning\u00a0rush hour in Athens<\/a>.<\/p>\n Youths smashed the glass front of a shop inside the party’s offices, which sit on a busy road, and threw\u00a0red paint at the entrance of the building.<\/p>\n In a statement, Golden Dawn said the attack by \u201ca paramilitary group\u201d armed with sledgehammers, batons, helmets and firebombs lasted for at least five minutes.<\/p>\n The group said none of its members were injured and claimed morale was high, adding: \u201cIf they think that these murderous methods will discourage champions and campaigners who have experienced killings, persecution and opposition, they are deeply mistaken.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither bullets, or prisons, or anything will bend the nationalists!\u201d<\/p>\n Golden Dawn became Greece’s third-largest political party in the 2015 general elections, with a rise in popular support during the country’s financial crisis.<\/p>\n Party offices have been targeted in previous bomb attacks, while two Golden Dawn members were shot dead in 2013 <\/a>in an attack claimed by a far-left militant group.<\/p>\n Some analysts classify the group as neo-Nazi and fascist because of the praise of Nazi leaders and use of symbols associated with the far right, although the leadership rejects the labels.<\/p>\n Its manifesto states the \u201cultimate goal of forming a new society and a new type of man\u201d and claims that the \u201csuperior\u201d race of Greeks \u201cneeds to be strengthened\u201d.<\/p>\n