ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Members of the extreme right Golden Dawn party handed out food parcels outside parliament Wednesday, but made sure that only those people with Greeks received the assistance. Hundreds stood in line at Athens' main Syntagma Square to pick up the food. Party volunteers, dressed in black, passed out milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil in the one-day charity event. At a time when Greece is going through its fifth year of recession, with poverty and unemployment rate rising, the Golden Dawn has made inroads in the country's political system. Its critics liken the party to neo-Nazi groups, after its members are accused of attacks against immigrants and some of its senior officials have publicly declared admiration for Adolf Hitler. The party rejects such a description. The public support for the party, however, has increased 20-fold since elections in 2009, and it won 18 seats in the country's 300-seat parliament in June elections. "Golden Dawn is a nationalist party and above all we are looking after Greeks," Golden Dawn Parliament member Nikolaos Michos told The Associated Press. Panayotis Panagiotopoulos, an unemployed man waiting for food Wednesday, said he was grateful for the help and described Golden Dawn as representing "the soul of the Greek people." The party denies any involvement in a recent surge of street attacks against Asian immigrants in Athens and other cities, despite repeated claims to the contrary by migrant groups and human rights activists. "At night they beat people up. And by day, they hand out food," Petros Constantinou, a left-wing Athens city councilman, told the AP. "They are exploiting people's misery to fish for votes. They are despicable." __ AP Television's Eftehia Katsareas and Dalton Bennett contributed.
Greek far-right party doles out food to Greeks
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Members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party hand out milk at Athens' main Syntagma Square opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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A family receives products from the members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party hand out potatoes at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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People wait in a line to receive products from the members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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People show their ID cards to members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. The T-shirts, read ''Golden Dawn.'' (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party hand out milk at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Elderly women receive potatoes as a member of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn with T-shirt of his party party stands at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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People wait in a line as members of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party hand out food at Athens' main Syntagma Square, opposite parliament, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The volunteers checked ID cards of the public before handing Greek citizens food that included milk cartons, pasta, potatoes and olive oil. Golden Dawn won 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament in June general elections. Senior party members openly support a policy of granting Greek citizenship based on racial identity. The party has stepped up its charity effort as Greece is suffering through a fifth year of recession, with rapidly rising rates of poverty and unemployment. The T-shirts, left, read ''Greece, Above all'' and ''Golden Dawn.'' (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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