School teacher leading a surging religious party

An elementary school teacher with a theology degree is behind the Niki (Victory) party, which just missed out on the 3% threshold for entering Parliament on the May 21 election day.

Dimitris Natsios first became a public figure in 2006, protesting against an “unpatriotic” history textbook. But even after he founded Niki in 2019, he stayed below the radar; until a few weeks before the election, his party barely registered in opinion polls, before surging in the final days to win 2.92%, becoming Greece’s sixth largest party.

Niki is obviously a Christian party; its campaign meeting began and ended with prayers. Its message is also tinged with nationalistic, homophobic and conspiracy theory themes. Some within the Church disapprove.

“Vote-getting cynicism and the weaponization of religious sentiment… are enormous threats to the political system and society,” said Metropolitan of Alexandroupoli Anthimos.