Moravané (, ''Moravians'') is a small non-parliamentary

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

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

History

It arose in 2005 through a merger of two older local parties: ''Hnutí samosprávné Moravy a Slezska – Moravské národní sjednocení'' ("The Movement of Autonomous Moravia and

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

- Moravian National Union") and ''Moravská demokratická strana'' ("the Moravian Democratic Party"). Pavel Dohnal became the party chairman. The party first participated in the nationwide parliamentary election in June 2006 and won 0.23% of the national popular vote, falling below the minimum threshold to gain any seats. ''Moravané'' was a member party of the

European Free Alliance The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist, separatist and minority political parties in Europe. Member parties advocate either for full political independence and sovereignty, or some ...

until 2018. A youth wing of the party (''Mladí Moravané'' - Young Moravians) also operates. In March 2009, party leadership passed to Jiří Novotný.

Ideology

The main goal of the party is as follows: "''On the principle of the right of self-determination of the Moravian nation, ''Moravané'' advocates for the independence of Moravia via restoration of the Moravian legislative parliament within the territorial scope of the Moravian ecclesiastical province.''" The party strongly disfavours state centralism, and expresses anti-Czech (

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n) sentiment; "Prague" (both the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

Czech government Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surna ...

) is blamed for "suppressing Moravian culture, traditions and language" and for "pauperising of Moravia".Some examples of such statements can be seen in the party's election spots
Vote No. 16
(elections 2009) o
The Moravian Truth and Czech/Bohemian Lie
(both in Czech) According to ''Moravané'', the future of the Europe lies in dismantling the modern European nation-states and establishing new states on historical territorial boundaries. Moreover, the party supports the codification and recognition of the Moravian language, traditionally considered a dialect of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

by linguists and the public.

Activities

The party organises open air actions, meetings and sit-ins, "candle marches" (founded at 2005) in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

and

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

, "pilgrimages to the Morava river spring", demonstrations against "Bohemiazation" etc. During a 'candle march' on 27 February 2010, forty party members decorated with numerous Moravian flags marched through the historical part of

to the pre-war Moravian Diet building, which ''Moravané'' claims to be occupied by a "foreign state", and the Moravian Square. The protest was poorly received by passers-by, with one on-looker noting "at this rate, the oravian peoplewill be looked on as fools". The march was not registered with the police and was later halted. On 25 July 2010, ''Moravané'' participated in a demonstration in

Moravský Krumlov Moravský Krumlov (; ) is a town in Znojmo District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative divisi ...

to attempt to halt a collection of Alfons Mucha paintings named ''The Slav Epic'' from being returned to Prague.

Election results

European Parliament

*Note: In the 2024 EP elections, the party ran on a joint ticket with the Association for the Republic - Republican Party of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia.

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

Notes

External links

Official website

Official internet forum

Should Moravians be treated as an ethnic minority?
– transcription of the programme broadcast on March 2007 on ČRo 7 (Radio Prague)
Concept of the Constitution of Republic of Moravia
– created "pro futuro" by former party leader P. Dohnal {{DEFAULTSORT:Moravane Regionalist parties in the Czech Republic Secessionist organizations in Europe Separatism in the Czech Republic Nationalist parties in the Czech Republic Moravia Political parties established in 1994 Secessionist parties in the Czech Republic 1994 establishments in the Czech Republic