Restrictions on political parties have existed in many countries at various times.

In Europe; Germany, Italy, Turkey, and France have laws allowing the government to ban extremist groups, especially far-right and/or neo-nazi organizations.

Belgium

Vlaams Blok - Banned 2004

Vlaams Blok (English: Flemish Block, or VB) was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform.

Following a 1989 agreement, known as the cordon sanitaire, the party was effectively blocked from entering any level of government. The court of appeal in Ghent in April 2004 ruled that some of the party's organizations had breached the 1981 anti-racism law and that the party sanctioned discrimination. The ruling was made definite on 9 November 2004.

The ruling meant that the party would lose access to state funding and access to television, effectively shutting the party down.

Today, our party has been killed, not by the electorate but by the judges.

By 2004, the party had become the single most popular Flemish party in Belgium, supported by about one in four of the Flemish electorate. In the 2004 Flemish Parliament election, the party became the single largest party group in parliament.

The whole trial was seen by some as a political trial, inspired by the Belgian establishment. The federal parliament had notably amended the Constitution in order to create legal possibilities to condemn the party. The Vlaams Blok also pointed at the problem of political nomination of judges, and again claimed that the lawsuit had been a political process coordinated with the Belgian Ministry of the Interior.

Moldova

Pro-Russian party banned in Moldova after coup warnings

A pro-Kremlin party which has called for regime change in Moldova has been dissolved by the country’s top court.

The political movement headed by businessman Ilan Shor has held major protests against the pro-European government.

Greek parliament voted to ban extreme-right party from elections.

Far-right party banned from upcoming election in Greece.

Legislative amendment disqualifies Greek National Party, whose chief is in prison over past leadership of neo-Nazi-linked Golden Dawn.

Should Germany ban AfD? What impact could this have?

Last year a German court ruled the far-right party was a threat to democracy, allowing it to be monitored by the country's security services.

A recent study by Germany’s Institute for Human Rights exploring the possibility of banning the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has put the far-right political party under the spotlight.

Published on 7 June, the study says the AfD now poses such a danger to the country's democratic order “it could be banned by the Federal Constitutional Court.”

Bulgaria

The pro-Russian party "Vazrazhdane" should be declared unconstitutional and dissolved - this is what the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee insists in an open letter, together with its co-signatories and a total of 121 people with a civil position who supported it.

We believe that, in its essence, the activity of this political party is aimed at destroying civil peace and eliminating the constitutionally established democratic order of government in the country.

According to the signatories, "Vazrazhdane" instills hatred and incites discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, nationality or sexual orientation.