Spartans (Greek political party)

Spartans
Σπαρτιάτες
PresidentVasilis Stigkas
SpokespersonKorina Triantafyllou [1]
FounderVasilis Stigkas
Founded5 December 2017 (2017-12-05)
Split fromRadical National Rally [el]
IdeologyUltranationalism[2][3]
Ultraconservatism[2]
Political positionFar-right[4][5][6][7]
ReligionGreek Orthodox Church
Colors  Gold
  Red
  Black
Hellenic Parliament
5 / 300
European Parliament
0 / 21
Regional councillors
2 / 611
Municipal councillors
2 / 8,481
Website
spartiates.gr

Spartans (Greek: Σπαρτιάτες, romanized: Spartiátes) political party in Greece, founded in 2017 by Vasilis Stigkas.[8] It is considered far-right due to its strong connections with the neo-fascist and criminal organization Golden Dawn.[9][10][11]

The party gained significant traction in national polls in mid-June, following an endorsement on Twitter by Ilias Kasidiaris,[12] a former Golden Dawn MP and nationalist politician who had been convicted in the trial declaring Golden Dawn to be a criminal organisation. Kasidiaris urged his supporters to vote for Spartans in the June 2023 election.

Given that many of its members of parliament have previously been associated with either Golden Dawn or Kasidiaris' party Greeks for the Fatherland, which was banned from participating in the 2023 elections, Spartans has been seen as a continuation of Golden Dawn.[13] Some sources have even labelled it as Kasidiaris' "trojan horse".[14][9]

  1. ^ "«Σπαρτιάτες»: Διευθυντής της Κ.Ο. ο Μ. Γαυγιωτάκης - Εκπρόσωπος Τύπου η Κ. Τριανταφύλλου". www.naftemporiki.gr. 23 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Σπαρτιάτες: Το κόμμα της ακροδεξιάς πολυκατοικίας που στηρίζει ο Κασιδιάρης". in.gr (in Greek). 8 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  3. ^ Franklin, Peter (26 June 2023). "How the EU destroyed the Greek Left". UnHerd. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  4. ^ Underhill, Hester (12 July 2023). "The new Spartans on the march: In Greece, the far-right is bouncing back into the political mainstream". The New European.
  5. ^ "Greek top court bars far-right Spartans party from EU election race". Reuters. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  6. ^ Kirby, Paul (26 June 2023). "Greek elections: Mitsotakis hails conservative win as mandate for reform". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  7. ^ Stamatoukou, Eleni (1 September 2023). "Greece's Far-Right Spartans Risks Collapse as Leader Suspends MPs". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Ιδρυτική Διακήρυξη".
  9. ^ a b "In the most recent election, Greek far right made a sinister comeback". euronews. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  10. ^ Smith, Helena (26 June 2023). "Greek voters propel new far-right Spartans group into parliament". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Far-right victories in Greece highlight trend across Europe". NBC News. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  12. ^ Kambas, Michele; Maltezou, Renee (29 June 2023). "From behind bars, Greek far-right populist propels ultra-nationalists". Reuters. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  13. ^ Fallon, Katy. "'Very worrying': Three far-right parties enter Greek parliament". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Greece: Far right makes resurgence – DW – 06/30/2023". dw.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.