Downloaded by [82.28.181.28] at 02:36 18 February 2016 ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES 11 context. Even in the context of rising violence against migrants, the MPO of the coalition government maintained the view that racism was not ‘a generalised problem’ and that ‘Greeks have always been hospitable and cosmopolitan’ (MPOCP 2013b). Such denials of racism, as stated earlier, are commonplace features of political discourse in many European contexts and their effects in framing social issues, constructing identities and legitimating policies are considerable. They establish Greek society and state institutions as non-racist – in particular by using collective designations such as ‘the police’ or ‘we’ –, reject racism as an ideology, and position Greek society within a European value system (Herzfeld 2007; Van Dijk 1993). The refutation of racism among the police is not only discursive: Despite substantial evidence of the close links between the police and the Golden Dawn (Christopoulos 2014; Dalakoglou 2013), an internal affairs investigation on police corruption in 2013, following the murder of activist Pavlos Fyssas by the Golden Dawn, concluded within just one month that the Hellenic Police is not institutionally racist. Inadequacies in investigating attacks against migrants were attributed to the ‘inaction and unwillingness’ of demotivated officers (Hellenic Police 2013, 12). However, academic research and human right reports (AI 2012; Antonopoulos, Tierney, and Webster 2008; ECRI 2009; Papapantoleon 2014; Tsoukala 2005) found evidence of anti-migrant views among police and the judiciary. Thus, denials of racisms legitimate violent practices by refusing to ‘see’ racism, and constructing it instead as a response to migration and its perceived threats, a narrative shared by police, judiciary and members of the wider public alike (Figgou and Condor 2006; Triandafyllidou and Kouki 2014; Tsoukala 2005). As the next section demonstrates this allows practices of violence to be legitimated as necessary for controlling migration. 6. Violence as defence against migration threats Similarly to the conceptualization of racism as a reaction to migration, a third narrative frames anti-migrant violence as a response to the perceived threats. Acts of violence by the Greek public are attributed to fear and insecurity engendered by the alleged criminality of migrants. For instance, an NDaffiliated MP rationalized assaults on Albanian migrants, which he claimed did not ‘reflect the hospitable feelings of Greek people’, by referring to experiences of immigrant criminality – seeing their ‘homes being burgled, their property being looted and their life threatened’ (HP 1998b, 8037). The logic of uncharacteristic but understandable ‘self-defence’ is articulated more explicitly by far right parties. While rejecting the logic of taking the law into one’s hands (αυτοδικία) a Laikos Orthodoxos Synagermos - Popular Orthodox Rally MP commented that having a ‘shotgun by my bed’ was an unsurprising response when ‘I’m afraid for my home, or my wife and child’ (HP 2011b, 153). Following