Wikipedia

Afroditi Latinopoulou

Afroditi Latinopoulou (Greek: Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου; born 29 April 1991) is a Greek politician, founder and leader of the far-right Voice of Reason. She was elected as Member of the European Parliament in 2024 European Parliament election.[1]

Afroditi Latinopoulou
Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου
Member of the European Parliament
for Greece
Assumed office
16 July 2024
Personal details
Born (1991-04-29) 29 April 1991 (age 33)
Thessaloniki, Greece
Political partyVoice of Reason - Afroditi Latinopoulou (2023–present)
Other political
affiliations		ND (2019–2022)
NC (2022)
PATRIDA (2022–2023)
Alma materAristotle University of Thessaloniki
OccupationPolitician • Lawyer
Websitehttps://latinopoulou.gr

Life

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Afroditi Latinopoulou was born on 29 April 1991 in Thessaloniki. Her maternal roots are in Evros, a region where she received the highest percentage of votes in the European elections.[2] She was the first child in a family of secondary school teachers.[3] From a young age, she was involved in tennis, a sport in which she won 15 Greek championships and 4 European championships.[4] In 2010, she was ranked 1067th by the Women's Tennis Association. Her sporting career ended in 2013 due to an injury.[5]

She studied at the Law School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, graduating in 2017.[6] In 2016, she joined ONNED and was appointed Secretary of the District. Before her election to the European Parliament, Latinopoulou worked as a lawyer.[7]

Politics

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In the Legislative Elections of 2019, she stood as a candidate for MP in Thessaloniki with the New Democracy.[8] She received 5,297 votes, finishing in 18th place out of a total of 20 candidates.[9]

Afroditi Latinopoulou has been very active on social media, where her posts on political and social issues often conflicted with the official policy of New Democracy. In the summer of 2022, after she made comments on the appearance of the Greek TV presenter,[10] Danae Barka, New Democracy issued a statement and proceeded to ban Latinopoulou from running with the party: "Afroditi Latinoopoulou holds no office or position in the organisational chart of New Democracy, either at the local or central level, and will not be a candidate in the next national elections."[10]

In August 2022, Afroditi Latinopoulou announced that she would join the "Patriotic Force for Change" a party of Konstantinos Bogdanos [11] as Vice President. In March 2023 when Bogdanos, decided to cooperate for a joint election with the Patriots – Prodromos Emfietzoglou, Latinoupoulou disagreed and was removed from the coalition.[12] On 23 March 2023 she founded her own party, "PATRIDA - Afroditi Latinoopoulou". However, by decision of the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece, to which Konstantinos Bogdanos appealed, her new party was excluded from participation in the elections of 21 May 2023 as it was considered that both the name and the symbol of the party were stolen from "Patriotic Force for Change".[13]

On 25 May 2024, she announced the renaming of the party as the Voice of Reason - Afroditi Latinopoulou.[14]

Controversy

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She has repeatedly sparked reactions with her views on women's nature, and human rights, which many Greek journalistic organisations have condemned as hate speech.[15] Some highlighted how she conceals her far-right character through constant fearmongering and dog whistling.[16][17][18] A notable incident occurred in 2022 when she was banned from running with New Democracy after making comments[19] about Greek TV presenter Danae Barka.[20][21][22] In 2021, in a similarly controversial incident, she compared homosexuality to paedophilia.[23][24] In 2022, she shared another video on Instagram condemning drag queen story hour after a kindergarten in Thessaloniki organised one.[25]

She was involved in supporting a controversial[26] fertility conference that was cancelled.[27] She has voiced her disagreement with the use of the term "femicide" and criticised left-wing parties for "exploiting victims", including the "glorification", as she referred to, of the two murdered activists Pavlos Fyssas and Zak Kostopoulos.[28] An article in To Vima newspaper commented on this by saying, "Self-identification, paedophilia, and incest were (deliberately) confused. The more pompous, the better."[28]

Latinopoulou's ideology is often described as ultranationalist[29] and far-right,[30] a characterisation she denies. She is against abortion rights,[31][32] opposes LGBTQ+ rights, and has expressed transphobic views[33][34] and anti-immigrant views, repeatedly calling for the borders to be closed.[35] In June 2024, she called for Pride Parade to be dissolved, saying, "It is a celebration of vulgarity, emphasising the sexuality of sadomasochists and other various abnormalities in public view."[36][37][38][39] Despite not calling herself far-right she is keen on supporting and working with european politicians typically thought of as parts of the extreme right, including Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni.[40] On 29 June 2024, she urged the French people to vote for Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella to prevent 'Islamisation,' end immigration, and stop the 'suicide of Europe'.[41]

In June 2024, she was listed among the 23 most controversial new MEPs in the European Parliament by Politico.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Schug, Sarah (20 June 2024). "Eight new members of the European Parliament to watch". The Parliament.
  2. ^ "Δύο γυναίκες με καταγωγή από τον Έβρο εκλέχθηκαν στην Ευρωβουλή" ["Two women from Evros elected to the European Parliament"]. Evros24. ...The party of Aphrodite Latinoopoulou gathered 6.36% in Evros, the highest percentage received by the "Voice of Reason" among all the electoral regions of the country..
  3. ^ "Η Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου 10 χρόνια πριν σε αγώνα τένις". Intronews.gr | Intro News. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Η Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου 10 χρόνια πριν σε αγώνα τένις". Intronews.gr | Intro News. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Η Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου 10 χρόνια πριν σε αγώνα τένις (vid)" ["Aphrodite Latinoopoulou 10 years ago in a tennis match (vid)"]. Intro News. In total he won 15 Championships in our country and 4 European Championships. However, due to a serious injury in 2013 he was forced to stop.
  6. ^ "Λατινοπούλου: Η ηλικία, το βιογραφικό και το κόμμα «Φωνή Λογικής»" [Latinoopoulou: Age, biography and the party "Voice of Logic"]. STAR TV. 2024.
  7. ^ https://www.bigpost.gr/politiki/article/168031/afroditi-latinopoulou-exo-protypo-ti-thatser-o-stefanos-kasselakis-tha-kanei-mia-trypa-sto-nero-einai-fyteytos/
  8. ^ "Εκλογές 2019: ΛΑΤΙΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ Υπ. βουλευτής Α' Θεσσαλονίκης με τη Νέα Δημοκρατία". 4 July 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  9. ^ https://ekloges-prev.singularlogic.eu/2019/v/home/districts/6/
  10. ^ a b "Από τις αξύριστες μασχάλες και τους «λαθρομετανάστες» στην Ευρωβουλή". ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ (in Greek). 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  11. ^ "Από τις αξύριστες μασχάλες και τους «λαθρομετανάστες» στην Ευρωβουλή". ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Ο Κωνσταντίνος Μπογδάνος διέγραψε την Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου από το κόμμα «ΠΑΤΡΙΔΑ»". 14 March 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  13. ^ ertnews.gr, Συντακτική ομάδα (28 April 2023). "Εκλογές 2023: Εκτός το κόμμα της Λατινοπούλου μετά την προσφυγή Μπογδάνου". Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου: "Φωνή Λογικής" η μετονομασία του κόμματός της - Δείτε βίντεο". 24 May 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  15. ^ Αλαγάς, Ραφαήλ. "Προσφέρει μίσος και επιδιώκει την προσοχή: Η Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου... αυτοχειροκροτείται για την επίθεση στη Δανάη Μπάρκα με αισχρές κουβέντες για τη Σοφία Χατζηπαντελή".
  16. ^ Αλεξανδρής, Άρης (2024-06-16). "Πρότζεκτ Λατινοπούλου". Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  17. ^ "Η Λατινοπούλου και η κοινωνική απαξία της ντροπής | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  18. ^ Κωνσταντάρας, Αντώνης (2021-12-13). "Η Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου Έσπασε το «Κοντέρ» της Γραφικότητας". Vice (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  19. ^ "Inside Le Pen, Wilders and Salvini's secret Brussels meeting". POLITICO. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  20. ^ "Η Δανάη Μπάρκα απάντησε στη Λατινοπούλου για το body shaming: Με αυτό το σώμα έχω χορέψει και ερωτευτεί | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  21. ^ IEFIMERIDA.GR, NEWSROOM (2022-06-16). "Η αποστομωτική απάντηση της Δανάης Μπάρκα στη Λατινοπούλου [βίντεο]". iefimerida.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  22. ^ "Η αφοπλιστική απάντηση της Μπάρκα στη Λατινοπούλου". in.gr (in Greek). 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  23. ^ "Ο Καπουτζίδης «απάντησε» στη Λατινοπούλου που παραλλήλισε τους ΛΟΑΤΚΙ με παιδεραστές και αιμομίκτες | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  24. ^ Sleed (2021-12-13). "Σε ομοφοβικό παραλήρημα η Λατινοπούλου… εξισώνει την ομοφυλοφιλία με την παιδεραστία - Documento". www.documentonews.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  25. ^ "Ξέσπασμα Λατινοπούλου για εκδήλωση στη Θεσσαλονίκη: «Είναι αδιανόητο drag queens να διαβάζουν παραμύθια σε παιδιά»". ProtoThema (in Greek). 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  26. ^ Newsroom (2021-06-14). "Συνέδριο Γονιμότητας: Ακυρώθηκε μετά τον σάλο για το διαφημιστικό σποτ". CNN.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  27. ^ "Λατινοπούλου: Το συνέδριο γονιμότητας ακυρώθηκε λόγω πολιτικής ορθότητας -Κατάντια" ["Latinoopoulou: Fertility conference cancelled due to political correctness -Misery"]. iefemerida. gr. 2021.
  28. ^ a b Δέσποινα Δημά (2024). "Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου: Από τις αξύριστες μασχάλες και τους «λαθρομετανάστες» στην Ευρωβουλή" [Aphrodite Latinoopoulou: From unshaven armpits and "illegal immigrants" to the European Parliament]. ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ.
  29. ^ "LGBTQ Greeks battle online hate in landmark year for rights". France 24. 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  30. ^ Group), Radiotileoptiki S. A. (OPEN Digital (2024-06-11). "Λατινοπούλου στο OPEN: Δεν υπάρχουν ακροδεξιά κόμματα στην Ελλάδα". ΕΘΝΟΣ (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  31. ^ a b "The 23 kookiest MEPs heading to the European Parliament". POLITICO. 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  32. ^ "Nine new hands and 12 old ones heading to Strasbourg | eKathimerini.com". www.ekathimerini.com. 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  33. ^ "Ο Αγών.. της Λατινοπούλου: Οι drag queens απειλούν τα παιδιά μας". in.gr (in Greek). 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  34. ^ "Ο Αγών.. της Λατινοπούλου: Οι drag queens απειλούν τα παιδιά μας". in.gr (in Greek). 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  35. ^ "«Σφράγιση» των συνόρων, ζήτησε από τον Έβρο η Αφρ. Λατινοπούλου". xronos.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  36. ^ "Αφροδίτη Λατινοπούλου στην Πρώτη Λέξη: Ταυτίζομαι με τη Λεπέν, είμαστε και οι δύο κεντροδεξιές". ProtoThema (in Greek). 2024-06-20. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  37. ^ "Δήλωση της Αφροδίτης Λατινοπούλου για το ντροπιαστικό Athens Pride 2024 - ΦΩΝΗ ΛΟΓΙΚΗΣ - ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ ΛΑΤΙΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ" (in Greek). 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  38. ^ "Λατινοπούλου: «Σαδομαζοχιστές και ανωμαλίες, γιατί δεν πάει η αηδία του Pride στο Ιράν;» | Flash". www.flash.gr (in Greek). 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  39. ^ "Α.Λατινοπούλου: «Δεν υπάρχει κανένας λόγος στη σημερινή Ελλάδα να γίνονται pride – Πρέπει να καταργηθούν» (βίντεο)". Pronews.gr (in Greek). 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  40. ^ "Λατινοπούλου: Η Μελόνι και η Λεπέν δεν είναι «Ακροδεξιά»". AthensVoice (in Greek). 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  41. ^ "Λατινοπούλου (Φωνή Λογικής): Ψηφίζουμε Bardella και Le Pen για να σώσουν τη Γαλλία από την απώλεια της κυριαρχίας της". bankingnews.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
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