| Slovene Union | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Rafko Dolhar |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Headquarters |
Via G. Gallina, 5/III 34122 Trieste |
| Newspaper | Skupnost |
| Ideology | Minority rights, Centrism, Christian democracy |
| European affiliation | European Free Alliance |
| Website | |
| www.slovenskaskupnost.net | |
| Politics of Italy Political parties Elections |
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The Slovene Union (Slovene: Slovenska skupnost , Italian: Unione Slovena) is a centrist Italian political party representing the Slovene minority in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Its name in Slovene means literally "The Slovene Community", but the denomination "Slovene Union" is used in other languages.
The party was founded in the 1960s to represent the anti-Communist Slovenes in the Italian Julian March (provinces of Trieste and Gorizia). It the 1970s and 1980s, it extended its presence also to the Venetian Slovenia and the Canale Valley in the Province of Udine. It has been considered to be sympathetic to the policies of the Roman Catholic Church and has drawn its support from various Slovene Catholic institutions in Italy, such as the Hermagoras Society and the Council of Slovene Organizations.
Since 2007, the Slovene Union is affiliated to the Democratic Party; the relation between the two entities is regulated by a so-called "agreement of federation", which guarantees the full autonomy of the Slovene Union in a strategic alliance with the Democratic Party.[1]
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The Slovene Union was founded in 1962 with the merge of several Slovene anti-Communist political organizations that had functioned since 1945 in the Italian part of the Julian March (Venezia Giulia), that is in the provinces Gorizia and Trieste (until 1954 Zone A of the Free Territory of Trieste). These organizations included the liberal democratic Slovene Democratic Union (Slovenska demokratska zveza, SDZ), led by Josip Agneletto and Andrej Uršič; the Slovene Christian Social Union (Slovenska krščansko socialna zveza, SKSZ), led by Engelbert Besednjak and Avgust Sfiligoj, and the Social democrat Group of Independent Slovenes (Skupina neodvisnih Slovencev, SNS), led by Josip Ferfolja, Frane Tončič and Dušan Rybář. All these groups shared an anti-fascist ideology, they were both opposed to Italian nationalism and centralism, as well as to the Communist regime in the nearby Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Coming from different ideological background, but sharing similar programs, these groups soon established a close collaboration, creating many unitary lists in municipal and provincial elections. Between 1947 and 1954, a unitary action was hindered by the fact that the Slovene minority was split into two separate political realities, one in the Republic of Italy and the other in the Free Territory of Trieste.
Since the elections of 1963, the party has participated in nearly all general, regional and municipal elections in Italy. Beginning from the late 1960s, it frequently allied itself with the Christian Democracy. Since its foundation, the Slovene Union has maintained close relationships with the South Tyrol People's Party and the Valdotanian Union. In the general elections of 1992, the Slovene Union ran for parliament in an alliance with the Valdotanian Union, the Sardinian Action Party, the Union for South Tyrol and some smaller autonomist and federalist parties. This unitary list obtained a seat in the Chamber of Deputies and one in the Senate of the Republic, although none of them was from the Slovene Union.
Since the beginning of the so-called Second Republic, the party has allied itself with centre left coalitions, such as the Olive tree coalition, and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy.
Between 2003 and 2008, the party was represented in the Region Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia by Mirko Špacapan, elected in the list of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. In the 2008 regional election the party won 1.2% of the vote (4.5% in the Province of Trieste and 2.6% in the Province of Gorizia) and elected a regional deputy, Igor Gabrovec.[2]
The party has a strong support in border areas with Slovenia (44.4% in the municipality of Monrupino, 43.1% in San Floriano del Collio, 25.4% in Savogna d'Isonzo, 21.0% in Doberdò del Lago, 20.5% in Sgonico, 18.2% in San Dorligo della Valle, 17.4% in Duino-Aurisina and 4.9% in Gorizia) and retains some support in the areas of the Province of Udine, traditionally known as Venetian Slovenia (for example 18.1% in Drenchia, 7.5% in San Leonardo, 7.1% in Grimacco, 5.8% in San Pietro al Natisone and 4.7% in Stregna).
In the municipal and provincial elections of 2011, the candidates of the Slovene Union ran on the list of the Democratic Party, except for the Council of the Province in Trieste, where they ran separately and gained around 3,4% of the vote.[3]
The party has an official newspaper, called Skupnost ("Community"). The weekly journal Novi glas ("The New Voice"), published in Gorizia by the Hermagoras Society is also generally supportive of the party's program, policies and ideology, although it is sometimes critical towards its actions.
Several public figures of the Slovene minority in Italy have been public supporters of the Slovene Union, including the authors Boris Pahor and Alojz Rebula, historian Jože Pirjevec, journalist, editor and historian Ivo Jevnikar and others.
Maurizio Vidali, Speaker of the Assembly of the Province of Trieste since 2011, is a high ranking member of the party.[4]
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