Efforts to Stop Racial Violence Cause Rifts in Greek Leadership

Greece's coalition government was in disarray Thursday over efforts to crackdown on growing racist violence, as majority conservatives and their center-left partners clashed over the best way to tackle anti-immigrant violence.

The embarrassing rift in conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' government occurred amid pressure from the European Union and human rights groups to toughen anti-racism laws.

Greece, in its sixth year of recession — and with the highest number of immigrants entering the European Union illegally — has seen a sharp rise in violence against non-European immigrants, as well as a surge in support for the xenophobic and extreme right Golden Dawn Party.

Samaras' center-right New Democracy party refused to endorse draft legislation overhauling laws on racial equality, and instead submitted more limited amendments to laws passed in 1979.

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