Bilbao, Spain  - The militant Basque separatist group ETA criticized overnight Sunday's elections in Spain's Basque region, slamming them as undemocratic and as a "political fraud" in a communique sent to the newspaper Gara.

ETA urged the Basques to vote blank instead of electing a "fascist" regional parliament.

The elections will be the first ones without the participation of parties close to ETA after the Supreme Court barred two radical separatist formations from contesting them.

ETA has protested the court decision with two bombings that caused no injuries. Its supporters have also booed mainstream party candidates and attacked party offices.

ETA advised the Basques not to vote for the region's governing Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which the group regards as too moderate in promoting the nationalist cause.

The elections are seen as the first which could remove the PNV from power in nearly 30 years.

The PNV is running neck-to-neck with the Socialist Party of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who attended a rally in Bilbao to back up Basque socialist candidate Patxi Lopez on Thursday evening.

Friday was the last campaign day for regional polls in the Basque region and Galicia. The elections will take the political pulse of a country sinking into a deepening recession.

ETA, which has killed more than 800 people since 1968, is regarded as a terrorist organization by the European Union and United States. (dpa)