Slovakia top court denies motion to dissolve far-right party

Slovakia’s Supreme Court rejected on Monday a motion to dissolve the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia which is expected to do well in next month’s European Parliament elections, saying it did not find enough evidence it was a threat to the country’s democratic system.

The General Prosecutor argued that the party, the third strongest in Slovakia’s parliament, had fascist tendencies violated the constitution and aimed to dismantle Slovak democracy.

The party currently has 14 seats in the country's parliament.

In his request filed two years ago, Jaromir Cizna said the far-right People's Party Our Slovakia is an extremist group whose activities violate the country's constitution.

But the court ruled Monday the prosecutor general failed to provide enough evidence for the ban.

“A party can be dissolved only if it actually fights against democracy and rule of law, which has not been proven in this case,” chief judge Jana Zemkova said.

“The court had no other option but to deny the motion,” she added.

The decision is final and cannot be appealed.

The party openly admires the Nazi puppet state that the country was during World War II. Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime in deprived areas, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

The party denies links to fascism. Its appeal echoes growth in similar movements in other European countries and is driven by rising public anger over graft scandals linked to traditional parties.

If granted, it would have been the first ban on a parliamentary party.