Supreme Court excludes far-right party from EU election ballot

Greece’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the far-right party Spartiates (Spartans) will be excluded from the upcoming European parliament elections. 

The Supreme court unveiled the final roster of parties that are set to compete on June 9 and deemed that the far-right party could not participate.

The court considered the petitions by the ruling party New Democracy and opposition parties PASOK and New Left, that the party should be excluded over its alleged ties with Golden Dawn.

The Spartans are under scrutiny due to their associations with convicted members of the now-defunct neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, notably Ilias Kasidiaris.

In an unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court has confirmed that 31 out of 46 total parties will vie for voters’ support in the June 9 elections.

According to sources, some 14 parties were excluded because they failed to submit the required fee of 20,000 euros.

At the same time, prosecution has been initiated against 11 Spartiates MPs for potential parliamentary and electoral fraud linked to their leadership roles.

The electoral court will decide on objections regarding the legitimacy of the party’s MPs in the coming days.