The Slovene Union ( sl, Slovenska skupnost, SSk, it, Unione Slovena, US) is a

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

representing the Slovene minority in the

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

region. Its Slovenian language name means literally "Slovene Community", but the denomination "Slovene Union" is used in other languages. The party was founded in the 1960s to represent the

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and th ...

Slovenes in the Italian

Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

(provinces of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

and

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label=Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Goritz ...

). It the 1970s and 1980s, it extended its presence also to

Venetian Slovenia Slavia Friulana, which means Friulian Slavia ( sl, Beneška Slovenija), is a small mountainous region in northeastern Italy and it is so called because of its Slavic population which settled here in the 8th century AD. The territory is located in ...

and Canale Valley in the

Province of Udine The province of Udine ( it, provincia di Udine, fur, provincie di Udin, sl, videmska pokrajina, Resian: , german: Provinz Weiden) was a province in the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia. Its capita ...

. It has been considered to be close to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and has drawn its support from various Slovene Catholic institutions in Italy, such as the

Hermagoras Society The Hermagoras Society ( sl, Družba sv. Mohorja or ) is Slovenia's oldest publishing house and has branches in Klagenfurt (Austria), Celje (Slovenia), and Gorizia (Italy). Named after Catholic Saint Hermagoras of Aquileia it originated on July 27, ...

and the Council of Slovene Organizations. Since 2007, the SSk is affiliated to the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD). The relation between the two parties is regulated by an "agreement of federation", which guarantees the full autonomy of the SSk.

History

The SSk was founded in 1962 with the merger of several Slovene

political organizations that had functioned since 1945 in the Italian part of the

(Venezia Giulia), that is in the provinces

and

(until 1954 Zone A of the

Free Territory of Trieste The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between northern Italy and SFR Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under United Nations Security Council Resolution 16, direct responsib ...

). These organizations included the Slovene Christian Social Union (''Slovenska krščansko socialna zveza'', SKSZ), led by Engelbert Besednjak and Avgust Sfiligoj; the liberal Slovene Democratic Union (''Slovenska demokratska zveza'', SDZ), led by Josip Agneletto and Andrej Uršič; and the

social-democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

Group of Independent Slovenes (''Skupina neodvisnih Slovencev'', SNS), led by Josip Ferfolja, Frane Tončič and Dušan Rybář. All these groups shared an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

ideology, they were opposed to

Italian nationalism Italian nationalism is a movement which believes that the Italians are a nation with a single homogeneous identity, and therefrom seeks to promote the cultural unity of Italy as a country. From an Italian nationalist perspective, Italianness is ...

and

centralism Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a partic ...

, as well as to the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Com ...

of the nearby

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Y ...

. Coming from different ideological background, but sharing similar programs, these groups soon established a close collaboration, creating many joint 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

. The SSk has taken part in nearly all general, regional and municipal elections in Friuli-Venezia Giulia since the 1963 general election. Beginning from the late 1960s, it frequently formed alliances with

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

. Since its foundation, the SSk has maintained close relations with the

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (german: Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP) is a regionalist and autonomist political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy. Founded on 8 May 1945, the SVP h ...

and the

Valdostan Union The Valdostan Union (french: Union valdôtaine, UV), also Valdostian Union or Valdotanian Union is a regionalist and centrist political party in Aosta Valley, Italy. It represents mainly the Arpitan-speaking minority in the region. Former leader ...

. In the 1992 general election the SSk formed a joint list with the Valdostan Union, the Union for South Tyrol, the

Sardinian Action Party The Sardinian Action Party ( sc, Partidu Sardu, it, Partito Sardo d'Azione, PSd'Az or PSdA) is a Sardinian nationalist, regionalist and separatist political party in Sardinia. While being traditionally part of the Sardinian centre-left, the p ...

, and some smaller regional parties; this effort produced a seat in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

and one in the Senate of the Republic, but none of them was for the SSk. Since the beginning of the so-called Italian Second Republic, the SSk has been in alliance with

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

coalitions, such as The Olive Tree, and had been an associate party of the Italian People's Party,

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties withi ...

, and finally the

Popular support and representation

The party has been represented in the Regional Council from 1975 through 1993, and then again since 2003. In the 2013 regional election the SSk won 1.4% of the vote (4.7% in the

Province of Trieste The Province of Trieste ( it, Provincia di Trieste, sl, Tržaška pokrajina; fur, provinzia di Triest) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Trieste. It had an area of and it had a t ...

and 2.8% in the

Province of Gorizia The Province of Gorizia ( it, Provincia di Gorizia, fur, Provincie di Gurize; sl, Goriška pokrajina) was a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy, which was disbanded on 30 September 2017. Overview Its capital was t ...

), resulting in the re-election of its regional councillor. The party is particularly strong in rural areas on the border with

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

in the Provinces of Trieste and Gorizia. In the 2013 regional election it was the most voted party in the municipalities of Monrupino (55.9%),

San Floriano del Collio San Floriano del Collio ( sl, Števerjan; fur, San Florean dal Cuei) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Gorizia, on t ...

(53.1%) and Savogna d'Isonzo (42.0%), and had a good showing also in San Dorligo della Valle (22.5%), Sgonico (22.2%), Doberdò del Lago (19.8%) and Duino-Aurisina (17.1%). Since the 2000s, the party has gathered some support also in the

, especially in the so-called

: in 2013 it garnered 19.4% of the vote in Drenchia, 10.8% in Malborghetto Valbruna, and 7.5% in Resia. In big cities, the party reached 5.3% in

and 3.2% in

. In the municipal and provincial elections of 2011, the candidates of the Slovene Union ran on the list of the

, except for the Provincial Council of Trieste, where they ran separately and gained 3.4% of the vote.

Media

The party has an official newspaper, called ''Skupnost'' ("Community"). The weekly journal '' Novi glas'' ("The New Voice"), published in

by the

is also generally supportive of the party's program, policies and ideology, although it is sometimes critical towards its actions.

Prominent members

Several public figures of the

Slovene minority in Italy Slovene minority in Italy ( it, Minoranza slovena in Italia, sl, Slovenska manjšina v Italiji), also known as Slovenes in Italy ( it, Sloveni in Italia, sl, Slovenci v Italiji) is the name given to Italian citizens who belong to the autochtho ...

have been public supporters of the Slovene Union, including the authors

Boris Pahor Boris Pahor, OMRI (; 26 August 1913 – 30 May 2022) was a Slovene novelist from Trieste, Italy, who was best known for his heartfelt descriptions of life as a member of the Slovenian minority in pre–Second World War increasingly fascist It ...

and

Alojz Rebula Alojz Rebula (June 21, 1924 – October 23, 2018) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, and translator, and a prominent member of the Slovene minority in Italy. He lived and worked in Villa Opicina in the Province of Trieste, Italy. He was ...

, historian

Jože Pirjevec Jože Pirjevec (born 1 June 1940), registered at birth Giuseppe Pierazzi because of the Italianization policy under the Fascist regime, is a Slovene–Italian historian and a prominent diplomatic historian of the west Balkans region, as well as a ...

, journalist, editor and historian Ivo Jevnikar and others.

References

External links