He established the NNP in 1994, and has sought to make the party into a leading voice of white nationalism in Russia. He has built up a reputation as a leader of the racist skinhead movement in the country. A supporter of like-minded groups across Europe, Ivanov-Sukharevsky has called for a closer European unity with Russia at the head of an eventual European super-state. His decision to enter politics was not without controversy and in 1995 he was subjected to a series of physical attacks and burglaries of his home by unknown assailants. Although the culprits were never identified Ivanov-Sukharevsky pointed the finger at rival right-extremist leader Alexander Barkashov. Barkashov's Russian National Unity movement had consistently rejected offers to co-operate with the NNP, largely because Barkashov viewed Ivanov-Sukharevsky as an unnecessary rival for the leadership of the ultra-nationalists.