Croatian Sovereignists Explained

Croatian Sovereignists
Native Name:Croatian: Hrvatski suverenisti
Abbreviation:HS
Colorcode:
  1. 033E7C
Colours: Red
White
Blue
President:Marijan Pavliček[1]
Founded:November 2019
Headquarters:Zagreb
Ideology:National conservatism[2]
Position:Right-wing[3]
Seats1 Title:Sabor
Seats3 Title:County Prefects
Seats4 Title:Mayors
European:European Christian Political Movement (2021–2022)
European Conservatives and Reformists Party (since 2022)
Europarl:European Conservatives and Reformists
Website:https://suverenisti.hr
Country:Croatia

The Croatian Sovereignists (Croatian: Hrvatski suverenisti) are a conservative[4] and Christian right-wing political party in Croatia. The party was founded in 2019 and is led by Marijan Pavliček.[5]

The party grew out of a coalition formed ahead of the 2019 European Parliament election in Croatia by four parties: the Croatian Conservative Party (HKS), the Croatian Growth (Hrast), the Croatian Party of Rights Dr. Ante Starčević (HSP AS), and the United Croatian Patriots (UHD). The coalition finished third and re-elected its list leader, MEP Ruža Tomašić.[6]

History

Foundation

The party was originally founded in November 2019 as a political platform between the Croatian Conservative Party (HKS), Croatian Growth (Hrast), and some citizens' initiatives, such as "Istina o Istanbulskoj" and "Hrvatski bedem".[7]

2020 parliamentary election

See main article: 2020 Croatian parliamentary election. In 2020, the party entered the Sabor (Croatian Parliament) in a Homeland Movement-led coalition. As of 2021, the Croatian Sovereignists have four MPs in the Sabor.[8]

Merger of smaller right-wing parties

On 2 October 2021 a unification assembly was held in Croatia's capital Zagreb. During the assembly it was announced that HKS, Hrast and the Generation of Renewal (GO), three smaller conservative and right-wing parties, will become defunct to merge and work together as the Croatian Sovereignists.[9] [10]

Expulsion of Zekanović from the party

On 17 December the presidency of the Croatian Sovereignists launched proceedings to expel Hrvoje Zekanović from the party, which was conducted on 17 January. The final decision was to be made within 30 days. Zekanović surprised everyone with a speech about vaccinations in the Croatian Parliament a week earlier on Thursday, which was followed by his removal as a president of a parliamentary club and Hrvoje Zekanović was officially expelled from the Croatian Sovereign Party on 19 January 2022.[11] [12] [13]

"Protect the Croatian Kuna"

After Andrej Plenković (HDZ), the Prime Minister of Croatia, announced that he expects Croatia to join the eurozone by the beginning of 2023,[14] [15] the Croatian Sovereignists launched a campaign called "Protect the Croatian Kuna"[16] (Croatian: Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu). Hrvoje Zekanović announced that the Sovereignists will start collecting signatures for a referendum and claimed that "not a single citizen of the Republic of Croatia out of two-thirds who voted for the EU knew that we had committed ourselves to introduce the euro within a certain period of time, i.e. enter the eurozone."[17] Sovereignist Member of Parliament Marijan Pavliček argued in a parliament speech that: "such an important topic where part of the sovereignty is lost, in this case monetary sovereignty, cannot be decided by individuals in their offices after an agreement with the powers in Brussels. On this topic only the Croatian people can decide through a referendum."[18]

The initiative is also supported by the Croatian Party of Rights,[19] the Independents for Croatia, and Generation of Renewal.[16]

On 24 October 2021 the "Protect the Croatian Kuna" initiative started collecting signatures demanding a referendum. Sovereignist Member of Parliament Marko Milanović Litre said in an interview, that already after five days 157,000 signatures were collected. For a referendum on the subject, the initiative needs to gather 368,867 signatures by 7 November 2021.[20] After the collection of signatures was over, the Sovereignists announced that they had collected 334,582 valid signatures, which is not enough to call a referendum.[21]

Program

On its website, the party names:

as its program guidelines.[22]

Election results

Legislative

ElectionIn coalition withVotes wonPercentage Seats wonChangeGovernment?
2020DPMŠ-led coalition181,49210.89 (#3)New
2024Most-led coalition169,988 8.02 (#5) 2

European Parliament

European Parliament
ElectionIn coalition withVotes wonPercentage Seats wonChange
2019None91,5468.52 (#3)New
2024MOSTHSP30,155 4.01 (#7) 1

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Zekanović smijenjen s mjesta predsjednika Kluba Suverenista u Saboru, novi predsjednik Pavliček. hr. Croatian Sovereignists. suverenisti.hr. 10 December 2021. 22 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Croatia. Nordsieck. Wolfram. Parties and Elections in Europe. parties-and-elections.eu.
  3. Web site: Croatia . 2024-06-12 . Europe Elects . en-US.
  4. News: Croatia's right-wing eurosceptics seek referendum on euro adoption. Igor Ilic, Frances Kerry. reuters.com. 24 October 2021. 6 April 2024.
  5. Web site: Novi šef Hrvatskih suverenista: 'Nadam se da će nam se pridružiti i Škoro, ali i još dva-tri zastupnika sličnih svjetonazora. Očekujem i Thompsonovu potporu'. hr. PSD. Slobodna Dalmacija. slobodnadalmacija.hr. 2 October 2021. 30 October 2021.
  6. News: EP election: Two major parties in Croatia take four seats each. N1. 26 May 2019. 27 May 2019. 27 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190527191418/http://hr.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a405864/EP-election-Two-major-parties-in-Croatia-take-four-seats-each.html. dead.
  7. Web site: O nama. hr. suverenisti.hr. 2 October 2021.
  8. Web site: Zastupnici. hr. Croatian Parliament. 2 October 2021.
  9. Web site: Ujediniteljski sabor Hrvatskih suverenista. hr. suverenisti.hr. 2 October 2021. 31 October 2021.
  10. Web site: Hrvatskim suverenistima pridružile se još tri desne stranke: 'Ovo je gruda koja će se pretvoriti u lavinu'. hr. tportal.hr. 2 October 2021. 31 October 2021.
  11. Web site: 17 December 2021. Zekanović o izbacivanju iz stranke: "Laknulo mi je. Moj stav o cjepljenju je jasan - cjepivo je jedino oružje protiv korone. Oni možda znaju neki drugi način". Zekanović on expulsion from the party: "I was relieved. My position on vaccination is clear - the vaccine is the only weapon against the COVID-19. They maybe know some other way.". live. 17 December 2021. Dnevnik.hr. hr. https://web.archive.org/web/20211217221515/https://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/hrvoje-zekanovic-o-izbacivanju-iz-stranke---688820.html?itm_source=HomeTopRow&itm_medium=Dnevnik&itm_campaign=Naslovnica . 2021-12-17 .
  12. Web site: Boban Valečić. Iva. 10 December 2021. Zbog neslaganja oko COVID-19 suverenisti brzo smijenili Zekanovića s pozicije šefa kluba. Due to disagreements over COVID-19, the sovereignists quickly removed Zekanović from the position of club and Hrvoje Zekanović was officially expelled from the Croatian Sovereign Party on 19 January 2022 chief. live. 17 December 2021. Večernji list. hr. https://web.archive.org/web/20211210083729/https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/suverenisti-smijenili-zekanovica-s-pozicije-sefa-kluba-jer-je-prozvao-zastupnike-desnih-stranaka-1546204 . 2021-12-10 .
  13. Web site: Matijević. Božena. 17 January 2022. Suverenisti odlučili izbaciti Zekanovića: 'To društvo me više ne zanima'. Sovereignists decide to expel Zekanovic: 'I am no longer interested in that society'. live. 19 January 2022. Večernji list. hr. https://web.archive.org/web/20220117185739/https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/suverenisti-odlucili-izbaciti-zekanovica-to-drustvo-me-vise-ne-zanima-1555970 . 2022-01-17 .
  14. Web site: Plenković očekuje ulazak u eurozonu početkom 2023. godine. hr. index.hr. Croatian News Agency. 25 June 2021. 2 October 2021.
  15. Web site: Plenković očekuje ulazak u eurozonu početkom 2023.. hr. tportal.hr. M. Šu./Hina. 25 June 2021. 2 October 2021.
  16. Web site: Sovereignists begin collecting signatures for a referendum on the euro on October 24th. Branko Lozančić. en. glashrvatske.hrt.hr. 27 September 2021. 2 October 2021.
  17. Web site: Zekanović: Pokrećemo referendum o uvođenju eura, narod se mora izjasniti. nijedan hrvatski građanin od dvije trećine koje su glasale za EU nije znao da smo se obvezali da ćemo u nekom roku uvesti euro, odnosno ući u eurozonu. hr. index.hr. Croatian News Agency. 8 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211002135529/https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/zekanovic-pokrecemo-referendum-o-uvodjenju-eura-narod-se-mora-izjasniti/2289158.aspx. 2 October 2021. 2 October 2021. live.
  18. Web site: Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu. o ovako bitnoj temi gdje se gubi dio suvereniteta, u ovom slučaju monetarnog suvereniteta, ne mogu odlučivati pojedinci u svojim uredima nakon dogovora sa briselskim moćnicima. O ovakvoj temi može isključivo odlučiti hrvatski narod putem referendumu. such an important topic where part of the sovereignty is lost, in this case monetary sovereignty, cannot be decided by individuals in their offices after an agreement with the powers in Brussels. On this topic only the Croatian people can decide through a referendum.. hr. suverenisti.hr. 12 July 2021. 2 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211002135413/https://suverenisti.hr/2021/07/12/zastitimo-hrvatsku-kunu/. 2 October 2021. live.
  19. Web site: HSP se pridružio inicijativi Hrvatskih suverenista – Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu. Croatian Radiotelevision. hr. vijesti.hrt.hr. 1 September 2021. 2 October 2021.
  20. Web site: Referendumska inicijativa "Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu": U pet dana prikupljeno 157.000 potpisa. Croatian News Agency. hr. jutarnji.hr. 30 October 2021. 30 October 2021.
  21. Web site: 16 November 2021. Suverenisti objavili koliko su skupili potpisa za referendum o euru: 'Ovo je respektabilna brojka'. Sovereignists announced how much they signatures they have collected for referendum about Euro: "This is a respectable number". live. 10 December 2021. Jutarnji list. hr. https://web.archive.org/web/20211116093800/https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/suverenisti-objavili-koliko-su-skupili-potpisa-za-referendum-o-euru-ovo-je-respektabilna-brojka-15120851 . 2021-11-16 .
  22. https://suverenisti.hr Programske smjernice