{"id":35599,"date":"2024-04-25T23:32:13","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T23:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/25\/far-right-greek-party-is-banned-from-e-u-parliament-elections\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:32:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T23:32:13","slug":"far-right-greek-party-is-banned-from-e-u-parliament-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/25\/far-right-greek-party-is-banned-from-e-u-parliament-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Far-Right Greek Party Is Banned From E.U. Parliament Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/25\/multimedia\/25greece-far-right-SWAP-ltkg\/25greece-far-right-SWAP-ltkg-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Far-Right Greek Party Is Banned From E.U. Parliament Elections\" title=\"Far-Right Greek Party Is Banned From E.U. Parliament Elections\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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\u2019s Supreme Court found that it was essentially a reincarnation of the banned neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In its decision about which parties can run in the European Parliament elections, issued on Wednesday, the court found that the party, Spartans, \u201coffered their party as a cloak for the new political party of Ilias Kasidiaris,\u201d the former spokesman of Golden Dawn who is currently in prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kasidiaris, the court said, is the true leader of Spartans, which \u201csubstitutes\u201d for Golden Dawn, serving as a front that allowed him to circumvent eligibility restrictions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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\u2019s losing its seats in the Greek Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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\u2019s success a decade ago for inspiration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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\u2019s clout has grown in recent years as it blocked legislation and emerged as a forum for high-profile debates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">E.U. elections tend to be a kind of mass barometer on the mood of millions of Europeans and how they feel about their leaders. Most recent polls show that mainstream conservatives will dominate the new house, followed by mainstream social democrats and liberals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the polls also point to an increase in power among far-right and extreme-right parties, which represent an ideological coalition that is at its core nativist and anti-migrant and that sometimes expresses anti-European views in favor of powerful national governments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In its decision on Wednesday, the Greek Supreme Court said that Spartans \u201caims at the weakening and demise of the democratic political system, particularly through the use of violence or incitement to violence.\u201d It also, the court said, embraced totalitarian ideologies, bigoted ideas, xenophobia and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Vassilis Stingas, the nominal leader of Spartans, was dismissive of the decision, noting that it was not based on a trial. \u201cBecause the Supreme Court said it, it\u2019s the word of God?\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll accept, without complaint, any decision of the judiciary, as long as there\u2019s a trial with evidence and witnesses. I don\u2019t respect this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kasidiaris and other Golden Dawn leaders <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/10\/07\/world\/europe\/golden-dawn-guilty-verdict-greece.html\" title=\"\">were found guilty in October 2020<\/a> of running a criminal organization that attacked leftist critics and migrants, and the party, which shot to prominence in 2012 during the economic crisis in Greece, was disbanded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since then Mr. Kasidiaris, who is serving a 13.5-year prison sentence, has campaigned from his cell in a bid to re-enter Greek politics. Last year, the Greek government moved to block from Parliament the National Party-Greeks, which was founded by Mr. Kasidiaris, by pushing through legislation that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/08\/world\/europe\/greece-far-right-party-election.html\" title=\"\">barred from the legislature<\/a> parties whose leaders have been convicted of serious crimes<em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u0391 few months later, Mr. Kasidiaris publicly backed the then-obscure Spartans, and the party won 12 seats in the 300-seat Parliament, clearing the way for a legal fight on two fronts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A special court is expected to rule before the European Parliament elections on complaints from citizens that Spartans engaged in electoral fraud. If Spartans loses its case, its seats will most likely be redistributed across other parties, or new elections will be held in districts where seats are held by Spartans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Separately, a Supreme Court prosecutor this month indicted 11 of the 12 lawmakers who were elected to Parliament under the Spartans banner, along with Mr. Kasidiaris. Five of those lawmakers are no longer affiliated with any party, and that case has not gone to trial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Stingas has not been charged, and the Supreme Court suggested in its decision on Wednesday that he was little more than a figurehead. \u201cThe truth is that they were chosen by Ilias Kasidiaris,\u201d the court said on Wednesday, \u201cand not by Vassilis Stingas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nikos Alivizatos, a prominent expert in constitutional law who was grabbed by the lapels and verbally assaulted by members and supporters of Golden Dawn in 2010, said the court\u2019s reasoning appeared sound, but he also expressed concerns about how the law might be interpreted in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s one thing banning a convict from running,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite another to ban his friends and supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Matina Stevis-Gridneff<!-- --> contributed reporting from Brussels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/25\/world\/europe\/greece-far-right-european-parliament.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/25\/multimedia\/25greece-far-right-SWAP-ltkg\/25greece-far-right-SWAP-ltkg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2836,8657,67,724,22679,3321,1697],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35601,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35599\/revisions\/35601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}