The Venetian National Liberation Movement (''Movimento di Liberazione Nazionale del Popolo Veneto'', MLNV) is a national

liberation movement A liberation movement is an organization or political movement leading a rebellion, or a non-violent social movement, against a colonial power or national government, often seeking independence based on a nationalist identity and an anti-imperi ...

which seeks

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

for the former territories of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, currently divided in three

Italian regions The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and

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 ...

. The MLNV was founded in September 2009 and is led by Sergio Bortotto. In November 2009 the MLNV was investigated on the charge of having built a paramilitary organization. The Italian police seized weapons at the home of one of the members, and uniforms of the so-called ''Polisia Veneta'' (Venetian Police) in the headquarters of the movement in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. According to the police, the group had planned to attack

Luca Zaia Luca Zaia (born 27 March 1968) is a Venetian and Venetist politician, who has been President of Veneto since 2010. Prior to that, Zaia was President of the Province of Treviso from 1998 to 2005, Vice President of Veneto from 2005 to 2008 and M ...

, a member of

Liga Veneta Liga Veneta ( vec, Łiga Vèneta; en, Venetian League; abbr. LV), whose complete name is ( en, Venetian League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and su ...

–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

. In December 2011,

Constitutional Court of Italy The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic ( it, Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sessi ...

ruled that a law that abolished a ban on the formation of paramilitary forces was in accordance with the

Constitution of Italy The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...

, which meant MLNV could no longer be prosecuted for forming a paramilitary force. In September 2017 all members of the MLNV are acquitted of any accusation because unfounded. In February 2012, MLNV organised an event in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

to present their plans for

Venetian nationalism Venetian nationalism (also Venetism, from the Venetian/Italian name, ''venetismo'') is a nationalist, but primarily regionalist, political movement active mostly in Veneto, Italy, as well as in other parts of the former Republic of Venice. ...

movement, inviting Venetian nationalist groups to attend. The convention was attended by representatives of the

Antonio Guadagnini Antonio Guadagnini (Bassano del Grappa, 25 August 1966) is an Italian politician. Guadagnini joined Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) in the late 1980s and, after that party's dissolution in 1994, he joined a score of centre-ri ...

faction of

Veneto State Veneto State (''Veneto Stato'', VS) was a Venetist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party's goal to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum ...

, and activist groups the

Venetian Most Serene Government The Venetian Most Serene Government (''Veneto Serenissimo Governo'', VSG), whose members are often referred to as ''Serenissimi'', is a political organization active in Veneto. The group's goal is independence and self-government for Venetian lan ...

, the Venetian National Government, Self-Government of Venetia, Venetian State and the

Friulian Front The Friulian Front (''Front Furlan'', ''Fronte Friulano'', FF) is a separatist political party active in Friuli, Italy. The party was founded in 2006 by dissidents of Lega Nord Friuli–Lega Nord, the largest Friulianist party so far. The Front s ...

. The MLNV announced the establishment of the "Provisional Government of the Venetian Republic" (GVP) in compliance with art. 96.3 of the

Geneva Protocol I Protocol I (sometimes referred to as Additional Protocol I or AP 1) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of ''international conflicts'', extending to "armed conflicts in which peoples are ...

. On 22 January 2015, the GVP signed an agreement recognizing

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a Territorial ...

. On 25 August 2015, the foreign ministry of the

sent a diplomatic note expressing "respect and interest in the development of equal relations and bilateral cooperations" with the GVP.

Leadership

*President: Sergio Bortotto (2009–present) *Vice President:

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official MLNV websiteOfficial GVP website
Venetian nationalism National liberation movements