On the statement of the University of Piraeus regarding Kotzias and Dugin

Following the publications in this blog and elsewhere about the contacts between current Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Russian fascist Aleksandr Dugin, Professor Angel Kotios, speaking on behalf of the University of Piraeus, has issued a statement in which he has tried to distance from Dugin. In particular, the statement says:

With relation to the negative reports referred to a lecture by Professor Aleksandr Dugin at the University of Piraeus and in particular the Department of International and European Studies, as Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Business and International Studies, I would like to clarify the following:

The lecture by Professor Dugin held on 12 April 2013 as part of the course "The Foreign Policy of Russia" with tutor Professor N. Kotzias, and it took place after a proposal of Mr. Dugin himself, via his collaborators, and, therefore, in no case was he invited by Professor Kotzias.

Anyone who is more or less familiar with the academic practice, knows that a lecturer cannot simply "invite himself" to give a paper in a course of another lecturer. Even if this were the case, then Kotzias had to check the background of the intrusive lecturer and eventually reject to have Dugin at the University of Piraeus. He did not reject. However, this was not the case at all, and the transcript of the lecture confirms that Dugin was invited.

Greece Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias

Here is the quote in Greek:

Νίκος Κοτζιάς (συντονιστής): Καλώς ήρθατε. Μπορείτε να ξεκινήσετε.

Αλεξάντρ Ντούγκιν: Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ για την πρόσκληση να μιλήσω εδώ στην Ελλάδα για τη διεθνή πολιτική, για το ρόλο και τη θέση της Ρωσίας στο πλαίσιο του σύγχρονου κόσμου, για τον Ευρασιατισμό ως μια ιδέα η οποία γίνεται όλο και πιο δημοφιλής όχι μόνο στη Ρωσία, αλλά και στο πλαίσιο των γειτονικών της χωρών, τις οποίες ακόμη αποκαλούμε μετασοβιετικό χώρο ή Εγγύς Εξωτερικό.

And here is the official English translation:

Professor Kotzias (coordinator of the discussion): You are welcome. You may take your seat.

Professor Dugin: Thank you very much for the invitation to speak here in Greece about international affairs, about the role and the place of Russia in the context of the actual contemporary world, about Eurasianism as an idea which is becoming more and more popular not only in Russia but also in the context of the near countries that we are still calling post-Soviet space or Near Abroad.

As one can see, Dugin thanks for being invited to give a lecture in Greece.

In his statement, Kotios continues:

The above-mentioned publications are malicious and unacceptable, and challenging academic freedom and democracy. The University is an area of free movement of ideas, dialogue and reflection. It is open to speakers from all over the world and from all ideological trends. How could it be the opposite?

So, does Kotios indeed allege than any extremist can come - or even invite themselves! - to the University of Piraeus to deliver a lecture to students? How many lecturers from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn has the University of Piraeus hosted so far?

Instead of apologising for inviting a fascist and proponent of genocide to indoctrinate their students, as well as promising to adopt the progressive No Platform policy, the University of Piraeus has unfortunately resorted to opportunism and ridiculous lies.