Croatian Sovereignists

Political party in Croatia

Croatian Sovereignists

Hrvatski suverenisti

Abbreviation| HS
President| Marijan Pavliček[1]
Founded| November 2019
Merger of|

* Croatian Conservative Party
* Croatian Growth
* Generation of Renewal

Headquarters| Zagreb
Ideology| National conservatism[2]

* Christian fundamentalism[3]

Political position| Right-wing[A][4]
European affiliation| European Christian Political Movement (2021–2022)
European Conservatives and Reformists Party (since 2022)
European Parliament group| European Conservatives and Reformists
Colours|  Red
White
Blue
Sabor|

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European Parliament|

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County Prefects|

0 / 21

Mayors|

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Website
https://suverenisti.hr

* Politics of Croatia
* Political parties
* Elections

* * *

^ A: The party is also considered as a part of the radical right, a label which can include far-right.[5]

The Croatian Sovereignists (Croatian: Hrvatski suverenisti) are a conservative[6] and Christian right-wing political party in Croatia. The party was founded in 2019 and is led by Marijan Pavliček.[7]

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.[8]

## History

[edit]

### Foundation

[edit]

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".[9]

### 2020 parliamentary election

[edit]

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.[10]

### Merger of smaller right-wing parties

[edit]

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.[11][12]

### Expulsion of Zekanović from the party

[edit]

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.[13][14][15]

## "Protect the Croatian Kuna"

[edit]

After Andrej Plenković (HDZ), the Prime Minister of Croatia, announced that he expects Croatia to join the eurozone by the beginning of 2023,[16][17] the Croatian Sovereignists launched a campaign called "Protect the Croatian Kuna"[18] (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."[19] 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."[20]

The initiative is also supported by the Croatian Party of Rights,[21] the Independents for Croatia, and Generation of Renewal.[18]

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.[22] 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.[23]

## Program

[edit]

On its website, the party names:

* national sovereignty
* self-sustainability
* Christian values
* personal freedoms

as its program guidelines.[24]

## Election results

[edit]

### Legislative

[edit]

Election  | In coalition with  | Votes won  | Percentage | Seats won  | Change  | Government?

|
|
|
|
|
|

(Coalition totals) | (Croatian Sovereignists only)
2020 | DPMŠ-led coalition | 181,492  | 10.89 (#3)  |

4 / 151

| New  | Opposition
2024 | Most-led coalition | 169,988  | 8.02 (#5)  |

2 / 151

|  2  | Opposition

### European Parliament

[edit]

Election  | List leader  | Coalition  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–  | EP Group

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Coalition | HS
2019[a] | Ruža Tomašić | None | 91,546  | 8.52 (#3)  |

1 / 12

| New  | ECR
2024 | Božo Petrov | MOST–HSP | 30,155  | 4.01 (#7)  |

0 / 12

|  1  | –

1. ^ Formally a coalition of HRAST, HKS, HSP AS and UHD bearing the same name of the current party.

## See also

[edit]

* List of political parties in Croatia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Croatian Sovereignists (10 December 2021). "Zekanović smijenjen s mjesta predsjednika Kluba Suverenista u Saboru, novi predsjednik Pavliček". suverenisti.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
2. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Croatia". parties-and-elections.eu. Parties and Elections in Europe.
3. ^ "Croatia". Europe Elects. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
4. ^ "Croatia". Europe Elects. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
5. ^ Hina (2022-11-24). "European Parliament insists on freezing European funds for Hungary". N1 (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-06-24.
6. ^ Igor Ilic, Frances Kerry (24 October 2021). "Croatia's right-wing eurosceptics seek referendum on euro adoption". reuters.com. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
7. ^ PSD (2 October 2021). "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'". slobodnadalmacija.hr (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
8. ^ "EP election: Two major parties in Croatia take four seats each". N1. 26 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
9. ^ "O nama". suverenisti.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 October 2021.
10. ^ "Zastupnici". Croatian Parliament (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 October 2021.
11. ^ "Ujediniteljski sabor Hrvatskih suverenista". suverenisti.hr (in Croatian). 2 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
12. ^ "Hrvatskim suverenistima pridružile se još tri desne stranke: 'Ovo je gruda koja će se pretvoriti u lavinu'". tportal.hr (in Croatian). 2 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
13. ^ "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."]. Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). 17 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
14. ^ 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]. Večernji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2021-12-10. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
15. ^ 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']. Večernji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2022-01-17. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
16. ^ Croatian News Agency (25 June 2021). "Plenković očekuje ulazak u eurozonu početkom 2023. godine". index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 October 2021.
17. ^ M. Šu./Hina (25 June 2021). "Plenković očekuje ulazak u eurozonu početkom 2023". tportal.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 October 2021.
18. ^ a b Branko Lozančić (27 September 2021). "Sovereignists begin collecting signatures for a referendum on the euro on October 24th". glashrvatske.hrt.hr. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
19. ^ Croatian News Agency (8 July 2021). "Zekanović: Pokrećemo referendum o uvođenju eura, narod se mora izjasniti". index.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021. "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"
20. ^ "Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu". suverenisti.hr (in Croatian). 12 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021. "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.]
21. ^ Croatian Radiotelevision (1 September 2021). "HSP se pridružio inicijativi Hrvatskih suverenista – Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu". vijesti.hrt.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 October 2021.
22. ^ Croatian News Agency (30 October 2021). "Referendumska inicijativa "Zaštitimo hrvatsku kunu": U pet dana prikupljeno 157.000 potpisa". jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 30 October 2021.
23. ^ "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"]. Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 16 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-16. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
24. ^ Programske smjernice, Croatian Sovereignists, suverenisti.hr, Retrieved 2 October 2021.

## External links

[edit]

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* e

Political parties in Croatia

Sabor|

| Government support (63)|

* Croatian Democratic Union (55)
* Croatian Social Liberal Party (2)
* Croatian Demochristian Party (1)
* Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (1)
* Croatian Party of Pensioners (1)
* Independent Democratic Serb Party (3)

|

Opposition (78)|

* Social Democratic Party of Croatia (37)
* Homeland Movement (11)
* The Bridge (9)
* We Can! – Political Platform (5)
* Centre (2)
* Croatian Sovereignists (2)
* Istrian Democratic Assembly (2)
* Independent Platform of the North (2)
* Croatian Peasant Party (1)
* Civic Liberal Alliance (1)
* Dalija Orešković and People with a First and Last Name (1)
* Law and Justice (1)
* Focus (1)
* Bošnjaci zajedno! (1)
* Croatian Romani Union "Kali Sara" (1)
* Democratic Union of Hungarians (1)

European Parliament|

* Croatian Democratic Union (6)
* Rivers of Justice (4)
* Homeland Movement (1)
* We Can! – Political Platform (1)

* Politics of Croatia
* List of political parties by country
* Politics portal

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European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR)

Parliamentary group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group

Parties|

| Member parties|

* IMRO-BNM
* HS
* ODS
* WB
* FdI
* NA
* LLRA–KŠS
* ADR
* PiS
* AD
* SaS
* SD

|

Global Partners|

* PR
* BPF Party
* Likud
* VMRO–NP
* DJB
* / UUP
* Republican Party

Party President|

* Giorgia Meloni

European Parliament
Group Presidents|

* Raffaele Fitto
* Ryszard Legutko
* see European Parliament

European Commissioners|

* Janusz Wojciechowski
* see Von der Leyen Commission

Heads of government
at the European Council|

* Petr Fiala (Czech Republic)
* Giorgia Meloni (Italy)
* see European Council

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