Mavroudis (Makis) Voridis ( el, Μαυρουδής (Μάκης) Χρήστου Βορίδης) (born 23 August 1964) is a Greek

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and lawyer. His previous and current involvement with

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

rhetoric and past association with dictator

Georgios Papadopoulos Geórgios Papadopoulos (; el, Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος ; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greek military officer and political leader who ruled Greece as a military dictator from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Royal Hellenic ...

has made him a controversial figure in Greek politics. A member of the Hellenic Parliament for

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinct ...

since 2012, he currently serves as the

Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He previously served as Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Networks in the Cabinet of Lucas Papademos (2011–2012), Minister for Health in the

Cabinet of Antonis Samaras The Cabinet of Antonis Samaras succeeded the Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos after the repeated legislative elections in May and June 2012. It was sworn in on Thursday, 21 June 2012. The former ministries of Shipping, Tourism and M ...

(2014–2015), and Minister for Rural Development and Food in the original Mitsotakis cabinet (2019–2021).

Early life and education

Voridis graduated from Athens College and acquired his degree from the Law School of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

. He also acquired a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

with merit from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Voridis specialized in international commercial law, criminal law, and the

philosophy of law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal val ...

. During his time there, he was the leader of the fascist student group "Student Alternative". Voridis himself has denied any connection with

far-right politics Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

, instead describing himself as a national liberal.

Political career

After graduating from Athens College, he was appointed secretary general of the young wing of the National Political Union (EPEN), a far-right political party founded by a year earlier by the jailed leader of the 1967 military coup and junta leader

. Voridis, who replaced Nikolaos Michaloliakos (who went on to lead

Golden Dawn Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to: Organizations * Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain ** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977 ** Open Source ...

) as EPEN's youth leader, remained in this position until 1990. During his compulsory

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft ( conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) requ ...

from 1992 to 1993, Voridis graduated class leader (92 A' ESSO) in Armour School and he served as an Armour Cadet Reserve Officer, gaining the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

. In 1994, he founded the far-right

Hellenic Front The Hellenic Front ( el, Ελληνικό Μέτωπο) was a Greek political party with an ultranationalist platform, founded in 1994. Its declared ''raison d'être'' was to raise national conscience and inspire freedom, creativity, and develo ...

party and became its first president. He unsuccessfully ran for the position of Athens mayor in 1998 and 2002. The Front's motto was "Red Card to the Illegal Immigrants", and he ran together with

Konstantinos Plevris Konstantinos A. Plevris (; born 1939 in Athens), sometimes called in English Constantine Plevris or Kostas Plevris, is a Greek politician, lawyer, nationalist, and neo-fascist author. The prolific writer has, over the course of decades, written a n ...

in the national elections of 2000. The Hellenic Front under the chairmanship of Voridis performed lamentably in the 2004 general election and managed to gather only 7000 (0.1%) votes. As a result of this, the

ceased its political activity in 2005 and was subsequently merged with the more successful Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) party. Voridis became a member of the political council of LAOS. Voridis later competed for a council seat in the 2006 local elections on the LAOS ticket in

East Attica East Attica ( el, Ανατολική Αττική) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the eastern part of the urban agglomeration of Athens, and also the rural area to its east. Adm ...

. He eventually secured 5% of the vote and was elected prefectural councillor.

Parliamentary career

On 16 September 2007, Makis Voridis was elected Member of the Greek Parliament with LAOS, calling up 8,663 votes in the Attica district, with a potential difference of 5174 votes from the second candidate, Tania Iakovidou, a TV journalist. In November 2011, Voridis was appointed Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Networks in the coalition government headed by Lucas Papademos. In February 2012, he was expelled from LAOS for supporting the second bailout package but retained his portfolio after consultations with the prime minister. A few days later, he joined

and surrendered his parliamentary seat to LAOS. As Minister, Voridis was supposed to open up professions like taxi drivers, a measure he has previously opposed on multiple occasions. On 10 June 2014, Voridis was appointed Minister for Health, despite significant concern from Jewish and other groups. On 9 July 2019, he was appointed Minister for Rural Development and Food in the cabinet of

leader and prime minister

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis ( el, Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician serving as the prime minister of Greece since 8 July 2019. A member of the New Democracy, he has been its president since 2016. He prev ...

. On 5 January 2021, he was appointed Minister for the Interior.

Controversy

According to a former fellow student at Athens College, writing in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

'', Voridis formed the fascist student group "Free Pupils" that painted the walls with swastikas and saluted each other using the Nazi-era greeting " Heil Hitler." It was further alleged that during school elections, Voridis would violently threaten the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

students who opposed his fascist group, as well as their families. In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', Voridis denied allegations of crypto-fascism,

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy ...

, describing himself as a national liberal with a rightwing student activist background. Voridis has also expressed views against

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

. The article's author describes him as a former "axe-wielding fascist" who "does not deny he is a reconstructed fascist". His presence in government has been met with alarm by Jewish and leftist groups.

References

External links

*
''Hellenic Lines'', newspaper of the Hellenic Front party (''in Greek'')
*
Kathimerini daily newspaper, an article about Makis Voridis and the parliamentary group of the Popular Orthodox Rally
(''in English'')

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Voridis, Makis 1964 births Greek nationalists National liberalism Government ministers of Greece Agriculture ministers of Greece Health ministers of Greece Ministers of the Interior of Greece Greek MPs 2007–2009 Greek MPs 2009–2012 Greek MPs 2012 (May) Greek MPs 2012–2014 Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek MPs 2015–2019 Greek MPs 2019–2023 New Democracy (Greece) politicians Popular Orthodox Rally politicians Politicians from Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Alumni of University College London Living people