Ministry earlier repeatedly refused to register National Party - Prague Daily Monitor

The nationalist National Party (NS) applied for registration at the Interior Ministry five times in 2000-2001 but all of its applications were turned down, Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan said today, adding that the NS only succeeded after it turned to the Supreme Administrative Court. The court ordered the ministry to register the party, Bublan (unaffiliated, nominated by the Social Democrats, CSSD) said in a televised debate. He said the police have been now trying to find out whether there is a legal chance to outlaw the NS that has recently attracted media attention by its controversial activity around the former wartime internment camp for Romanies in Lety, south Bohemia. Bublan said the ministry had refused to register the party mainly because of its "strong national accent." It also minded the people who founded the party, he said. Bublan said the NS had arisen from the movements such as the Patriotic Front and the National Unification, which he labelled "a little skinhead-like groupings."