The move appears to be a way for the party to associate itself more with the neo-Nazi movement, a loosely organized group of like-minded parties. Interior Ministry estimates put the number of Czechs associated with the movement at about 4,000.

The Workers Party 20-member security force currently guards its party leaders. There appears to be no limit to the number of candidates who would like to join, however, according to the party’s leader. (Czech law forbids such groups from carrying arms.)

“We have had dozens of applications for membership into the security corps, but so far there are only 20,” said Workers Party leader Tomáš Vandas. He said his party plans to allocate 200,000 Kč ($12,100) to the corps this year, which is expected to be used to buy uniforms.

Týden reported that the new security forces came into being at the start of February and are based on an earlier “National Guard” formed by the far-right National Party. Hitler’s National Socialists created a similar structure, called Shutzstaffel, or SS, in the 1930s. The name of the Workers Party force “Ocranné sbory” is a direct translation of this term.

Neo-Nazis took part in the Workers Party May 1 demonstration on Prague’s Namestí Jiřího z Poděbrad in droves, and Vandas often gives speeches at neo-Nazi marches.

Former leaders of the neo-Nazi group Národní odpor (National Resistance) and the up-and-coming neo-Nazi leaders plan to use the Workers Party’s political status to get into mainstream politics, according to Ondřej Cakl, a spokesman for the Association for Tolerance and Civic Society.

Neo-Nazis attempted to form a coalition called the National Social Block in 2001, but the party fell apart after one year due to internal strife.