Alsace First ( gsw, Elsass Zuerst, EZ; french: Alsace d'abord, ADA), formerly the Alsatian Regionalist Movement (french: links=no, Mouvement régionaliste alsacien) from 1998 to 2002, is a

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 ideological or p ...

based in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, established in 1989. It promotes autonomy for Alsace in

. The party is considered far-right by many observers due to its strong stance against immigration, its opposition to Turkish

entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets *Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...

into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and its affirmation of an Alsatian

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. The party is opposed to French centralizing Jacobin attitudes and favours

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

, fiscal and political autonomy for Alsace, and bilingualism in the region ( Alsatian and French). It is often compared to the stronger Lega Nord in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In the

2004 French regional elections Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets. The results were a triumph for the part ...

, the party won 9.42% of the vote but failed to win seats. It had 9 seats in the

Alsace regional council The Regional Council of Alsace (, ) was the regional council of the French region of Alsace from 1982 to 2015. As a result of reforms, the administrative region of Alsace merged with two other regions to form Grand Est, effective 1 January 20 ...

from 1998 to 2004 due to an electoral system more favourable to smaller parties than the current system, adopted in 2003. The party has one seat in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...

general council, held by Christian Chaton in the canton of

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (; ; Alsatian: ''Màrkìrisch'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Geography Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines is located in the massif of the Vosges Mountains, where it occupie ...

. The leader of ADA is Jacques Cordonnier, who replaced Robert Spieler in 2008. Spieler had been a National Front deputy in the French National Assembly between 1986 and 1988.

See also