From behind bars, Greek far-right populist propels ultra-nationalists

With backing from a politician jailed for leading a party declared a criminal gang, Greek far-right groups swept up over 12% of the vote in Sunday's election, mirroring the rise of populist and ultra-nationalist politicians across Europe.

The surge of three parties with their ultra-nationalist views - including Spartiates (Spartans) which barely registered in polls until Ilias Kasidiaris from the banned Golden Dawn party endorsed it from his prison cell - could swing public debate at home and prove a springboard in European elections.

While the centre-right New Democracy party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis stormed to victory in the June 25 Greek vote, winning 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament, Spariates emerged as the fifth largest group.

Spartiates and two more parties, Greek Solution and Niki - which together have 34 seats - view migration as a threat to Greece's...