A small far-right party that unexpectedly entered the Greek Parliament last year will not be allowed to field candidates for the European Parliament this summer after Greece’s Supreme Court found that it was essentially a reincarnation of the banned neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
In its decision about which parties can run in the European Parliament elections, issued on Wednesday, the court found that the party, Spartans, “offered their party as a cloak for the new political party of Ilias Kasidiaris,” the former spokesman of Golden Dawn who is currently in prison.
Mr. Kasidiaris, the court said, is the true leader of Spartans, which “substitutes” for Golden Dawn, serving as a front that allowed him to circumvent eligibility restrictions.
The decision was announced a few weeks after a prosecutor for the Greek Supreme Court indicted several Spartans lawmakers on charges of electoral fraud, and before an anticipated ruling from another court that could lead to the party losing its seats in the Greek Parliament.
The decision comes as mainstream parties across the 27 nations that make up the European Union are increasingly concerned about the apparent growth of far and extreme-right movements, some of which looked to Golden Dawn’s success a decade ago for inspiration.
The E.U.-wide elections, scheduled to take place between June 6 and 9, will determine the more than 700 lawmakers in the next European Parliament. The institution has seen its clout grow in recent years as it blocked legislation and emerged as a forum for high-profile debates.
