The Croatian Sovereignists ( hr, Hrvatski suverenisti) are a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, autho ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The party was founded in 2019 and is led by

Marijan Pavliček Marijan is a male Croatian first name. The Macedonian version of this name is Marjan. Marijan is also a last name found in Croatia. People named Marijan * Marijan Beneš – Croatian boxer *Marijan Brkić Brk – Croatian musician *Marijan Brn ...

History

Foundation

The party was originally founded in November 2019 as a

political platform A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order ...

between the

Croatian Conservative Party The Croatian Conservative Party ( hr, Hrvatska konzervativna stranka or HKS) was a conservative political party in Croatia. Last president of the party was Marijan Pavliček. It was founded on 20 November 2014. It joined the Alliance of European ...

, Hrast-Movement for Successful Croatia, and some citizens' initiatives, such as "Istina o Istanbulskoj" and "Hrvatski bedem".

2020 parliamentary election

In 2020, the party entered the

Sabor The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabo ...

(Croatian Parliament) in a Homeland Movement-led coalition. As of 2021, the Croatian Sovereignists have four

MPs MPS, M.P.S., MPs, or mps may refer to: Science and technology * Mucopolysaccharidosis, genetic lysosomal storage disorder * Mononuclear phagocyte system, cells in mammalian biology * Myofascial pain syndrome * Metallopanstimulin * Potassium perox ...

in the Sabor.

Merge of smaller right-wing parties

On October 2, 2021, a unification assembly was held in Croatia's capital

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

. During the assembly it was announced, that three smaller

and

parties (

, Hrast-Movement for Successful Croatia and the

Generation of Renewal A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and g ...

) will become

defunct Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is t ...

to merge and work together as the Croatian Sovereignists.

Expulsion of Zekanović from the party

On December 17, the presidency of the Croatian Sovereignists launched proceedings to expel Hrvoje Zekanović from the party, which was conducted on January 17. The final decision will 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 January 19, 2022.

"Protect the Croatian Kuna"

After

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...

( HDZ), the

Prime Minister of Croatia , type = Head of Government , member_of = , reports_to = Croatian Parliament , appointer = Croatian Parliament , nominator = President of Croatia , termlength = At the pleasure of the parliamentary majority. Parliamentary elections must be ...

, announced that he expects Croatia to join the

eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polic ...

by the beginning of 2023, the Croatian Sovereignists launched a campaign called "Protect the

Croatian Kuna The kuna is the currency of Croatia, in use since 1994 ( sign: kn; code: HRK). It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Mint. The plural form of the word kuna in ...

" ( hr, 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, ie enter the

." Sovereignist

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

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." The initiative is also supported by the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonomy ...

, the Independents for Croatia, and

. On October 24, 2021, the "Protect the Croatian Kuna" initiative started collecting signatures demanding a referendum. Sovereignist

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 November 7, 2021. 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.

Program

On its website, the party names: * national

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

self-sustainability Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person or organization needs little or no help from, or interaction with, others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self-s ...

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different school ...

* personal freedoms as its program guidelines.Programske smjernice
Croatian Sovereignists, suverenisti.hr, Retrieved 2 October 2021.

Election results

Legislative

References

External links

2019 establishments in Croatia Conservative parties in Croatia Christian political parties Eurosceptic parties in Croatia Right-wing politics in Croatia Political parties established in 2019 {{Croatia-party-stub