South Tyrolean Freedom (german: Süd-Tiroler Freiheit, STF) is a regionalist,

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

Parties and Elections in Europe
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national-conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...

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 ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

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 re ...

. The party, which is part of the South Tyrolean independence movement, seeks to represent the

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

population and proposes the secession of South Tyrol from Italy and its reunification with the State of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

within

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Its founding leader was

Eva Klotz Eva Klotz (born 4 June 1951) is an Italian politician. She was a member of the Landtag of South Tyrol for 31 years, from 1983 until 2014. She represented several parties during that time, latterly (from 2007) the South Tyrolean Freedom. Life a ...

History

The South Tyrolean Freedom emerged as a split from the

Union for South Tyrol The Citizens' Union for South Tyrol (german: BürgerUnion für Südtirol, BUfS), formerly Union for South Tyrol (''Union für Südtirol'', UfS), was a national-conservative political party active in South Tyrol, Italy. The party was committed to ...

(UfS) in May 2007. On 8 June 2007 it was notarially founded in

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic and ...

. The founding members were Herbert Campidell, Eva Klotz, Sven Knoll, Reinhold Ladurner, Roland Lang, Sepp Mitterhofer, Werner Thaler and Dietmar Zwerger. In mid 2007, the party presented a provocative poster campaign with the slogan ("South Tyrol is not Italy") and the

Austrian flag The flag of Austria ( de-AT, Flagge Österreichs) is the flag of the nation of Austria. It consists of three bands of colour in the following order: red, white, and red. The Austrian flag is considered one of the oldest national symbols stil ...

as background. A sign with the same content was also set up at the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...

border, in June 2008. In April 2009, the STF became a full member of the

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

, a pan-European organization of regionalist parties. Gudrun Kofler from the STF Youth (''Junge Süd-Tiroler Freiheit'') was elected as Vice President of the EFA Youth. In January 2012, it was reported that the party had reached 2,800 members, a lot more than UfS in its best days. In the 2013 provincial election, the STF won 7.2%, its record high so far, resulting in three provincial councillors. In November 2014 Klotz, who had served in the Provincial Council for 31 consecutive years (for SH, UfS and STF), announced her resignation from the assembly in order to take care of her husband, who was severely ill. In the 2018 provincial election, the party obtained 6.0% of the vote and two provincial councillors. In the municipal elections in September 2020, South Tyrolean Freedom competed in 29 South Tyrolean municipalities with 140 candidates. It was able to increase its seats from 41 to 49.

Ideology

The STF sees itself as a "

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

" party aimed at protecting the

population of South Tyrol. The party claims South Tyroleans' right to self-determination and to conduct a referendum in order to decide whether they want to be part of Italy or the Austrian state of

. The party programme also emphasizes the protection of the environment, the defense of family values, a moderately liberal economic policy and the concept of Europe of the regions.

Election results

Provincial Council

Leadership

*Spokesperson / Legal Representative:

Werner Thaler Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Raid ...

(2007–present)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Political parties in South Tyrol Separatism in Italy Secessionist organizations in Europe German irredentism German nationalist political parties Political parties established in 2007 European Free Alliance Political parties of minorities South Tyrolean nationalism National conservative parties Right-wing populist parties Right-wing populism in Italy