Baltakos: There have been more talks with GD members - I can't remember what I've said

I was in talks with the Golden Dawn for the good of the party and the country, stated Takis Baltakos, in a radio interview with Nikos Chatzinikolaou this morning, attempting to justify his conversation with Elias Kasidiaris.

He also admitted that there are other talks that went before, and a couple that came after the one that has already been revealed to the public. When asked if he's said worse things, he answered: “I do not know. I can't remember. Whatever I've said served a purpose”. When asked if he has met with any other GD members, he replied positively, while on the style of speech he used to talk with Kasidiaris, he stated that he changes styles depending on the one he is speaking with. He also admitted of having spoken with Mr. Mihaloliakos.

He also added that he holds the utmost respect towards Mrs. Koutzamani, while he underlined that “the center-right New Democracy party is in danger of losing its right wing the past few years, and that cannot happen”.

He characterized the things he did with Kasidiaris as an everyday phenomenon, and stated that the PM was aware that we had to “extricate those voters trapped within the Golden Dawn party”. He underlined that there was no reason that the PM should know of his contacts with the GD. As he stated characteristically, “that was a minor detail”.

On the Kasidiaris video, he said: “He met me in the corridor, and told me that they have a personal complaint, at the time, I was receiving many people. Since I had already spoken to him on occasion, before, I accepted to meet him. The fact that he has been accused of something does not mean he has been found guilty. When I realized what these people did, later on, I stopped meeting with them. Another reason why I met with him was that I wanted to know what these people were ultimately planning to do”, and he once more underlined that his goal was to rescue Golden Dawn voters trapped within the party, and he did it in “multiple ways”.

He continued: “There is no conspiracy. No evil plan. I mentioned the PM's calls because of what I read in the Press, I didn't ask the PM himself. All I told Kasidiaris, I'd seen written in the papers. What should I fear from his video? It was purposeful, I should have known, I should have understood”.

“On the murder of Fyssas, I learned nothing, I only learned of political practices and targeting”.

On the “zionist conference” line, he stated that it was Roupakiotis' line, and that the rest was written in the press.

Prosecutions against a party in a country freed with freedom fighters, you cannot turn a party into an accused entity. It is better to ignore them than to bring them to the fore.