2023-06-28 12:25:49
Three nationalist formations, located to the right of the conservative formation of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be in the Parliament monocameral for the first time since the return of democracy in Greece nearly 50 years ago. All three got together 12.77% of the votes in the legislative elections on Sunday. Eleven years after the election of neo-Nazi deputies, the extreme right returns to Parliament in Greece with a small party, Spartans, supported by a former Golden Dawn leader who is in jail.
“Extreme-right voters in Greece now have access to a range of highly personalized, almost tailor-made political options,” he said. Georgios Samarasadjunct professor of public policy at King’s College London, contacted by AFP.
Unknown until a few weeks ago, the party Spartans, which is inspired by its name and its logo –a warrior helmet– in ancient Greece, obtained 4.64% of the votes and will have a representation of 12 deputies. On Sunday night, the surprise was such that the journalists did not even know where the training offices were, which had not had a Facebook page two weeks ago.
Absent
Spartans appeared in the polls only after June 13 and were absent in the polls. first legislative elections five weeks ago. But undoubtedly, thanks to the support of the former spokesman for the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, Ilias Kassidiaris, he managed to acquire sudden notoriety.
The leader of Spartans, Vasilis Stigas, publicly thanked Kassidiaris, describing him as “fuel that enabled us to achieve this result.” This statement “unequivocally reveals the real mastermind behind the party,” says Samaras.
The former leader of Golden Dawn is serving a sentence of 13 and a half years in prison for belonging to a “criminal organization” for being involved in the murder of an anti-fascist rapper.
Despite his imprisonment, this 42-year-old man, violent, denialist and who had a swastika tattooed on his back, continued his political activities. From his cell, he regularly addresses his supporters through messages on his YouTube channel.
The Supreme Court decided at the beginning of May to veto the Helenos formation, which he founded before his imprisonment, in the elections, considering that it was the continuation of Golden Dawn.
Another nationalist party that crossed the threshold of 3% of the votes needed to obtain deputies was Niki (Victory in Greek), a party anti-immigrant, anti-abortion and related to the conservative fringe of the Orthodox Church. “With the fear of God, we will go forward fighting for the victory of Hellenism,” said his boss, a theologian, Dimitris Natsios, on Sunday night.
Relations with Russia
According to the Niki party program, migrants should be subjected to monthly checks of health, professional status and judicial record. The party, which media reported has ties to Russia, won 3.7% of the vote.
The pro-Russian party Greek Solution, which appeared in the 2019 European elections, maintains its presence in Parliament. The formation, which refuses to be extreme right, It is directed by Kyriakos Velopoulos, a follower of conspiracy theories and who sold alleged manuscripts written by Jesus Christ on television. This bald man also sold beeswax to combat hair loss.
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These nationalist parties achieve their best results in northern Greece, particularly in Macedonia. “The fury (…) has been brewing since the signing of the Prespa agreement” in 2018, which made it possible to resolve the longstanding conflict over the name of neighboring North Macedonia. Many extremists from the Greek province saw in this historic agreement a high treason.
“It is evident that there are important coincidences between these parties, mainly due to their common position on the Macedonian dispute and their unwavering refusal to accept” the agreement, stressed political scientist Georgios Samaras.
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