Spartans Σπαρτιάτες | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| President | Vasilis Stigkas |
| Spokesperson | Korina Triantafyllou[1] |
| Founder | Vasilis Stigkas |
| Founded | 5 December 2017; 7 years ago (2017-12-05) |
| Split from | Radical National Rally [el] |
| Ideology | Neo-fascism[10] Ultranationalism[11][12] Ultraconservatism[11] |
| Political position | Far-right[13][14][15][16] |
| Religion | Church of Greece |
| Colors | Gold Red Black |
| Parliament | 2 / 300 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 21 |
| Website | |
| spartiates.gr | |
Spartans (Greek:Σπαρτιάτες,romanized: Spartiátes) is apolitical party inGreece, founded in 2017 byVasilis Stigkas.[17] It is consideredfar-right due to its strong connections with theneo-nazi and criminal organizationGolden Dawn.[18][19][20]
On 12 June 2025, the party lost its parliamentary presence after its MPs were reduced to two, following a decision by the Electoral Court to declare the election of three out of the total five MPs that made up the parliamentary group invalid.
In the late 1980s, Vasilis Stigkas first joinedNew Democracy for a few years at the time whenKonstantinos Mitsotakis wasPrime Minister. Unsatisfied with the party, he followed thenForeign MinisterAntonis Samaras into his newPolitical Spring party, after the latter was dismissed from his position over his stance on theMacedonia naming dispute.[21]
In the early 2000s, Stigkas joined theLAOS party ofGeorgios Karatzaferis. He left after the party's support for thememorandum in 2012 while it participated in thecoalition government of Lucas Papademos.[21]
He created the Spartans party in 2017, while participating in political programs on theYouTube channel ofKonstantinos Plevris and Tasos Simigdalas. During that time, he interviewed different political personalities such as leftistPanagiotis Lafazanis,[22] centristVasilis Leventis[23] andGolden DawnerIoannis Lagos.[24]
For theEuropean parliamentary election of May 2019, an electoral alliance was announced with the partyUnion of Centrists ofVasilis Leventis.[25] Stigkas received 752 votes nationwide.[26] In thenational legislative elections of 2019, Stigkas participated once more on theBoeotia ballot list of the Union of Centrists,[27] receiving 35 votes.[28]
In December 2020, the formation of a coalition was announced by ELASYN, thePopular Hellenic Patriotic Union (LEPEN), the "Spartans" party, the United Front of Greek Ideology of Compatriots (EMEIS) and theFront Line, with the prospect of a joint electoral descent with the nameK.Y.M.A of Hellenism.[29] In February 2021, the coalition announced the collaboration of the formation with the retired captain and chief of the Popular Citizens Movement (LAKIP) Andreas Petropoulos.
On 8 June 2023, the party Spartans was allowed to participate in the upcomingJune 2023 Greek legislative election by theSupreme Court of Greece. Following the exclusion of the far-rightNational Party – Greeks ofIlias Kasidiaris from both theMay and June 2023 elections, Kasidiaris announced his "full support" for the party of Stigkas.[30][31] Subsequently, the party gained a 4.68% in theJune 2023 Greek legislative election,[32] winning a total of 12 seats in the new parliament.
The party gained significant traction in national polls in mid-June, following an endorsement onTwitter byIlias Kasidiaris,[33] a formerGolden Dawn MP andnationalist 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 theJune 2023 election.
Given that many of its members of parliament have previously been associated with eitherGolden Dawn or Kasidiaris' partyGreeks for the Fatherland, which was banned from participating in the 2023 elections, Spartans has been seen as a continuation ofGolden Dawn.[34] Some sources have even labelled it as Kasidiaris' "trojan horse".[35][18]
Less than three months after the elections, three MPs were expelled from the parliamentary group by Stigkas, with the party's president citing their absence from the parliament as the reason for their expulsion.[36] In early September, two more MPs became independent, leaving the party with 7 out of its original 12 seats. On 7 September, four of the newly independent MPs were reintegrated into the party's parliamentary group.
Since August 2023, a prolonged internal party crisis all but dissolved the Spartiate parliamentary group.[37] The crisis erupted over the support of most of the party's MPs for Ilias Kasidiaris and his candidacy for theMunicipality of Athens in the upcominglocal elections.[38] Party leaderVasilis Stigkas reacted to these initiatives by his MPs and expelled three of them, referring to MPsled by extra-parliamentary foreign centres acting like theGreek mafia.[39] Stigkas' allegations prompted a judicial investigation by the Prosecutor of Greece’s Supreme Civil and Criminal Court, leading to the indictment of the entire parliamentary group—except Vasilis Stigkas—for electoral fraud, with Ilias Kasidiaris also charged for instigating the fraud. In May 2025, the Court of Appeal unanimously acquitted all 11 accused MPs, including Kasidiaris, finding no evidence that they had misled voters."[40]
On May 27, the Appeals Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal against the first-instance decision, deeming its reasoning erroneous.[41]
According to a decision by theSpecial Highest Court, three Spartans MPs were stripped of their office and ceased to be members of the Greek Parliament. This decision was based on the opinion that these MPs were elected by misleading the electorate, concealing that their true leader and guide was Ilias Kasidiaris.[42] The party's parliamentary group, now consisting of only two members, was dissolved on 12 June 2025, as it fell below the threshold of five MPs required to form a parliamentary group. The two MPs joined the Independents.[43]
The party was barred from participating in the2024 European Parliament elections, an action that was endorsed byNew Democracy,PASOK,New Left andSyriza while it was rejected byAfroditi Latinopoulou and herVoice of Reason party.[44][45]
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The party is considered to beultranationalist,ultraconservative,anti-LGBT/homophobic and positioned on thefar-right of the political spectrum.[11][46][47] The party describes itself as a supporter of the “popular patriotic right”, of the triptych “homeland–religion–family” and of the “sane Greek nationalism”.[11][48]
The party takes apro-Israel stance, strongly condemning the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and criticising Turkey’s alleged support for Hamas.[49][50]
At least 10 members and politicians of theNational Party – Greeks, including one of Kasidiaris' lawyers, were on the Spartans' ballot lists.[51] Stigkas openly supported theNational Popular Consciousness of convicted neo-NaziGiannis Lagos,[52][better source needed] and later turned out to be a member of the National Party – Greeks. InMay 2023 Greek legislative election, Spartans did not participate and were not involved in the discussion of the possible parties that Ilias Kasidiaris would support. After the second ban from the elections by the Supreme Court, Kasidiaris and members of his party openly supported Spartans.[53][54] In his first public statement after the election, Stigkas openly thanked Kasidiaris for "[being] the fuel that has propelled us to [entering parliament]".[55]
Faced with a surprise revolt in July 2023, the leader of the party Vasilis Stigkas encountered a situation in which nine members of parliament issued a statement against him.[56] They cited unethical and unacceptable remarks made by MPKonstantinos Floros. Earlier in the day at the parliament, Floros had openly expressed his joy for the candidacy of the convicted leader of the criminal organizationGolden Dawn in the municipality of Athens,Ilias Kasidiaris.[57] The incident further solidified the perception that Kasidiaris functions as the de facto leader of the Spartans party.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | ±pp | Seats | +/− | Rank | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Vasilis Stigkas | 70,178 (withUnion of Centrists) | 1.24% | New | 0 / 300 | New | 9th | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2023 | 243,922 | 4.68% | +3.44% | 12 / 300 | +12 | 5th | Opposition |
| Election | Votes | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | Rank | # | ± | |
| 2019 | 750[58] | 1.45%(withUnion of Centrists) | 10th | 0 / 21 | new |
With 4.7 % of the vote, it was the Spartans who could claim real victory in a bloc of unabashed neo-fascists, religious fundamentalists and ultra-nationalists catapulted into parliament with two similarly minded far-right groups: Greek Solution and Niki.
(in Greek)
