Greek Ultra-Right MP Arrested After Assault in Parliament

An MP elected with the ultra-right Spartiates Party (Spartans) was arrested on Wednesday after he assaulted a colleague from the populist Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) party in the colonnade outside the plenum hall.

Konstantinos Floros, now an independent MP, assaulted and punched MP Vasilis Grammenos.

In addition to immediately evicting Floros under guard, Parliament President Constantinos Tasoulas gave orders that he should be immediately handed over to law enforcement authorities and face criminal charges of assaulting a member of Parliament.

He noted that Parliamentary immunity does not apply in the case of violent criminal offenses.

Floros is expected to be charged with violating Article 157 of the Criminal Code, according to which it is a felony to attack a member of parliament during the performance of his duties.

Greek ultra-right party the surprise of the last elections

The Spartiates party was the biggest surprise of the 2023 elections in Greece getting 4.64 percent of the vote and gained 12 seats in Parliament.

The grouping was catapulted from relative obscurity after support from Ilias Kasiadiaris, the frontman of the now-banned Golden Dawn far-right party. His own party was barred from the elections and he endorsed the Spartiates from jail.

The party considers that the traditions of Hellenism are missing from public life nowadays and describe themselves as “the iron arm and the real bulwark that will stop the decline and the sell-out of Greece and the Greeks.”

The Spartiates are among three fringe parties of the right that gained parliamentary representation after the elections.

Elliniki Lysi, a nationalist, pro-Russia party formed by former journalist and TV salesman Kyriakos Velopoulos, got 4.47 percent of the vote and is represented in Parliament with 12 MPs.

Niki, or Victory party which emphasizes Orthodox Christian traditions got 3.71 percent and 10 MPs.

Spartiates MPs charged with electoral fraud

Earlier in April 11 MPs of the Spartiates party were charged with electoral fraud for complicity in deceiving the electorate during the 2023 parliamentary elections.

Kasidiaris was also charged with morally instigating the deception of voters, as the prosecutor’s investigation revealed he is the true leader of the Spartiates party. It was he who secretly controlled events and was responsible for the party running in the elections and electing MPs to Parliament.

The charge is based on evidence showing that there was continuous contact between the Spartiates candidates and Kasidiaris while he was in prison. He is said to have provided the party with guidance and political support. This would be illegal for both him and other jailed members of Golden Dawn, which was ruled to have been a criminal organization.

The 11 lawmakers effectively “used the Spartiates party as a front for a new political entity under Kasidiaris, thereby aiding him in circumventing the electoral restrictions imposed by election legislation,” the prosecutor’s report said.