Greek MP questioned over gallery attack on ‘blasphemous’ art

ATHENS: A Greek lawmaker was questioned on Monday after violently attacking artworks he considered blasphemous in one of Athens´s main art galleries.

Nikolaos Papadopoulos broke into the National Gallery and smashed protective glass before trying to steal two works he claimed “insulted religion”, according to the police. Papadopoulos is a member of the Niki or Freedom party, a far-right grouping close to Orthodox Church figures which has 10 seats in Greece´s 300-seat parliament. Papadopoulos was held by police, and later wrote on X that the works he targeted were “blasphemous to the Virgin Mary”.