European Democrats win court battle over subsidies

The European Democrats have won a court battle to obtain 15 million crowns from state coffers. A Prague court ruled on Tuesday that the small centre right party was eligible for state support for mandates won in the 2002 local elections and that the money had been unlawfully withheld by the Finance Ministry. The ministry refused to make the payment on the grounds that the European Democrats contested seats in the local elections not as a party or coalition but as "a loose alliance of party members and independent candidates". The court ruled that this argument was not justified and has ordered the ministry to settle the debt. The Finance Ministry has the right to appeal.