The Slovene Union (, SSk, , US) is a

political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...

representing the Slovene minority in the

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

region. Its Slovene 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 communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

Slovenes in the Italian Julian March (provinces of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

). In the 1970s and 1980s, it extended its presence also to Venetian Slovenia and Canale Valley in the

Province of Udine The province of Udine (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia, with the capital in the city of Udine. Abolished on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the Re ...

. It has been considered to be close to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and has drawn its support from various Slovene Catholic institutions in Italy, such as the Hermagoras Society and the Council of Slovene Organizations. Since 2007, the SSk is affiliated to the Democratic Party (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 Julian March (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 Italy and SFR Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under United Nations Security Council Resolution 16, direct responsibility of ...

). 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 social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

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 op ...

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 i ...

and centralism, as well as to the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

of the nearby

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. 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 is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

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

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (, SVP) is a regionalism (politics), regionalist and mostly Christian democracy, Christian-democratic list of political parties in South Tyrol, political party in South Tyrol, an Autonomous administrative divisio ...

and the Valdostan Union. 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 (, , PSd'Az or PSdA) is a Sardinian nationalism, Sardinian nationalist, Regionalism (politics), regionalist and Separatism, separatist list of political parties in Sardinia, political party in Sardinia founded by Sardin ...

, 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 Bourb ...

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 is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

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 (, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties with ...

, and finally the Democratic Party.

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 () is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Trieste. It has an area of and a population of 228,049. It has a coastal length of . Abolished in 2017, it was reestabl ...

and 2.8% in the

Province of Gorizia The province of Gorizia (; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Initially disbanded on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the regional decentralization entity of Gorizia (; ; ), and was reacti ...

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

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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 (53.1%) and Savogna d'Isonzo (42.0%), and had a good showing also in

San Dorligo della Valle San Dorligo della Valle (; or ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Trieste in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about southeast of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. it had a population of 6,0 ...

(22.5%), Sgonico (22.2%),

Doberdò del Lago Doberdò del Lago (; Venetian language#Regional variants, Bisiacco: ; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia, Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of ...

(19.8%) and Duino-Aurisina (17.1%). Since the 2000s, the party has gathered some support also in the

, especially in the so-called Venetian Slovenia: 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 Democratic Party, 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 Hermagoras Society 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 (, ), also known as Slovenes in Italy (, ) is the name given to Italy, Italian citizens who belong to the autochthonous Slovenes, Slovene ethnic and linguistic minority living in the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-V ...

have been public supporters of the Slovene Union, including the authors Boris Pahor and Alojz Rebula, 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 ...

, journalist, editor and historian Ivo Jevnikar and others.

References

External links