The party gained significant traction in national polls in mid-June, following an endorsement on Twitter by Ilias Kasidiaris,[21] 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.[22] Some sources have even labelled it as Kasidiaris' "trojan horse".[23][18]
^Smith, Helena (26 June 2023). "Greek voters propel new far-right Spartans group into parliament". The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 11 December 2024. 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.