| South Tyrolean Freedom | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Eva Klotz |
| Founded | May 2007 |
| Headquarters | St. Josef am See, 74 39052 Kaltern an der Weinstraße (BZ) |
| Membership | unknown |
| Ideology | German minority politics National conservatism [1] Separatism [2] |
| International affiliation | none |
| European affiliation | European Free Alliance |
| European Parliament Group | no MEPs |
| Chamber of Deputies |
0 / 630
|
| Senate |
0 / 315
|
| European Parliament |
0 / 73
|
| Provincial Council |
2 / 35
|
| Website | |
| http://www.suedtiroler-freiheit.com | |
| Politics of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Political parties Elections |
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The South Tyrolean Freedom (German: Süd-Tiroler Freiheit, STF) is a separatist German-speaking political party active in South Tyrol committed to the reunification of South Tyrol (deliberately writing it Süd-Tirol with dash and not as one word) with the state of Tyrol within Austria.
Contents |
The South Tyrolean Freedom emerged as a split from the Union for South Tyrol (UfS) in May 2007.[3] On 8 June 2007 it was notarially founded in Brixen. The founding members were Herbert Campidell, Eva Klotz, Sven Knoll, Reinhold Ladurner, Roland Lang, Sepp Mitterhofer, Werner Thaler and Dietmar Zwerger.
In the summer of 2007 the party presented a provocative poster campaign with the slogan "South Tyrol is not Italy" and the Austrian flag as background.[4] A comparable sign with the same content was set up at the Brenner Pass border, at last in June 2008.[5]
Since April 2009 the STF is full member of the European Free Alliance, the pan-European organization of regionalist political parties. Gudrun Kofler from the STF Youth (Junge Süd-Tiroler Freiheit) was elected as Vice President of the EFA Youth.
The STF presents itself as a "liberal-patriotic" party which advocates the protection of the German speaking population of South Tyrol. The party claims the right of self-determination for South Tyrol and the right to conduct a referendum in which the South Tyroleans can decide whether they want to be part of Italy or the Austrian state of Tyrol. The party program also emphasize the protection of the environment, the defense of family values, a moderately liberal economic policy and the vision of a Europe of the regions.[6]
In the 2008 provincial election the party won 4.9% of the vote (more than two thirds of the vote of UfS in 2003) and two provincial deputies, while UfS managed to win 2.3% of the vote and one deputy.
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