“Orthodox Christians in Greece are being persecuted,” declared Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a member of the far-right Niki party, in response to what he described as “poetic expression,” namely the vandalism of works of art in the National Gallery which he considered an insult to the Orthodox faith.
And just like that, another issue crept onto the agenda of the parties to the right of New Democracy. Niki, which pulled off a big surprise in June 2023 by entering Parliament, had somehow fallen into oblivion after that, shrinking in the polls as other far-right parties seemed to be on the rise. Now it is coming back to the fore. But for how long?
The day after Papadopoulos’ acts of vandalism, the Holy Synod, for its part, expressed regret over the exhibition titled “The Seduction of the Stranger – Intermediate Space” and warned that it would “take appropriate action against the Greek government.”
This is not the first time in Greece that art has been targeted for insulting religious symbols. But it is probably the first time we have seen an MP break the law to become the perpetrator of an act of censorious “activism.”
Tempe instrumentalization
The move is being applauded by party members, although its leader, Dimitris Natsios, was initially a little cautious in his reaction. In a closed chat group of party members on the Viber app, Papadopoulos’ move was greeted with enthusiasm.
Many cite similar actions by migrants who vandalize icons in churches or defecate there (angry reports that remain unsubstantiated). Natsios clarified later in the evening that he would not expel the MP. The next day, Papadopoulos went so far as to describe the exhibition as “a crime, a crime equal to that of Tempe and worse.”
According to Lamprini Rori, assistant professor of political analysis at the University of Athens, the radicalization that followed the protests over the Tempe train crash that killed 57 people is feeding radical and anti-systemic parties, both from the far-right and the far-left. The Niki party took part in the protests, even in the very first Tempe rally at the end of January, but did not seem to make any gains, while, on the contrary, parties such as Greek Solution and Voice of Reason are on the rise. “It is not impossible that the incident at the National Gallery is an instrumentalization of the alleged insult to morality in order for Niki to tinker in the murky waters of right-wing radicalism.”
“Its very low support [below the 3% threshold in some polls] suggests that the party may be panicking that it is not benefiting from the protests. Especially on the far-right, there is a lot of competition to see who will be the winner,” she adds.
Nikos Marantzidis, a political scientist and professor at the University of Macedonia, stresses that the party will certainly benefit from the move, but its impact will be limited.
“But there will be a danger if we find ourselves in an activist competition with the far-right over who is more radical, more authentic. This will lead to antagonistic attitudes, which will lead to madness.”
‘Grassroots movement’
As Marantzidis describes it, Niki has different characteristics to other parties to the right of New Democracy. It is a “grassroots movement” linked to church networks, which have a more activist role in northern Greece due to their radicalization during the Macedonian issue in the 1990s.
“It is different from other versions of the far-right, and even this form of ‘action’ by this particular MP does not reflect the culture and characteristics of Niki,” he adds.
The party’s support base is relatively solid but electorally limited and cannot grow much. There are no comparable parties in Europe at the moment
It is a traditional Christian conservative party based on a social network: the teachers, the priests, the doctors, the policemen. “It is a system of corporatism, similar to the one that emerged in the post-fascist societies of the Iberian peninsula,” comments a researcher from northern Greece who has written extensively on the church media.
The party did not rely on advertising or social media. Many people – especially in northern Greece – describe how their parents or acquaintances came home from church on Sundays and told them that they had heard about this new party and that they were going to vote for it. People may feel that they do not trust politicians, but they trust the priest, doctor or teacher they know.
This is also the case of the MP Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a cardiologist known for his social activities. “This is not a normal party, but an old-style party with social influence,” explains the researcher.
‘Old-fashioned’
In and out of Parliament, however, Niki had been relatively quiet until last week’s incident. The party’s support base, political analysts say, is relatively solid but electorally limited and cannot grow much. There are no comparable parties in Europe at the moment. It is reminiscent of the conservative Christian democratic parties of the past.
“Niki is a grassroots movement, not a high-profile one, and cannot become much more than what it is now,” he says. “It is ultra-conservative and old-fashioned and lacks a leadership that people can identify with. Its audience is limited, although certainly more solid than that of [Voice of Reason leader Afroditi] Latinopoulou and [Greek Solution leader Kyriakos] Velopoulos, and organizationally more cohesive.”
As he notes, his voters are “old people, conservative, in patriotic networks, characterized by a negative hyper-conservatism: the fear that our religion and identity are being lost. They are particularly sensitive to questions of Orthodoxy, faith, national identities, without, however, adopting the other agendas that we find on the extreme-right, such as nativism and nationalism.”
Precisely because it is a sui generis party, it is difficult to imagine an alliance with other parties in this field. “However, the phenomenon is worrying in its full development.”
Teacher-preacher-turned-party leader
Dimitris Natsios, a teacher from Kilkis, may have been unknown in central and southern Greece until he entered Parliament, but he had been a celebrity in the north for years.
He was a columnist at local newspapers in Kilkis and appeared first on the regional church radio and then on the church television station 4E of the Christian sisterhood Lydia the Philippian. For more than a decade he presented the program “Epistolary Studies.” The organization, with Father Theophilos as its spiritual director, is quite active and financially strong, and at one point was close to having a national reach.
In 2006, from the primary school in Kilkis where he worked, Natsios started the reactions that later led to the withdrawal of a 6th grade history book. Maria Repoussi had led the writing team, and it included the controversial phrase about “overcrowding in the port of Smyrna.”
His views on the dystopia of the “New World Order” (a term often used in conspiracy theories hypothesizing a secretly emerging totalitarian world government) were widely promoted on the website Antivaro, followed by the collection of signatures and escalating reactions demanding the withdrawal of the book, which even amounted to on-site “raids” at schools. In addition to Channel 4E and local newspapers, Natsios is a frequent presence at parishes, where he preaches the Sunday sermon.
In 2012, the religious association United Romiosini published its textbook “Language Books of the New World Order.” The association is one of the supporters of the anti-abortion campaign.
His political activity began in 2014 with the political movement Eleftheria (Freedom). In 2015 he joined the Radical National Rally of Vassilis Kapernaros, while later he joined the Society – Political Party of the Successors of Kapodistrias, which he left in 2016. In 2019, on the occasion of the Prespa Agreement, he founded the Democratic Patriotic People’s Movement, or Niki.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the anti-vaccination movement gave the party a significant boost. Contacts on Mount Athos are linked to monks who have joined the anti-vaccination movement. Many Niki members are doctors and nurses who refused to be vaccinated and were suspended from work, including Nikolaos Papadopoulos.