The National Alliance (Lithuanian: Nacionalinis susivienijimas, NS) is a Lithuanian far-right political party founded on 7 March 2020 and led by philosopher Vytautas Radžvilas.[6] As of 2024 the party holds 2 municipal council seats and 1 seat in Seimas, being represented by it's vice-chairman Vytautas Sinica.[7]
National Alliance Nacionalinis susivienijimas | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Abbreviation | NS |
| Chairman | Vytautas Radžvilas |
| Deputy Chairpeople | Kęstutis Dubnikas Vytautas Sinica |
| Executive Secretary | Arnas Simutis |
| Founded | 7 March 2020 |
| Headquarters | Kalvarijų g. 280-37, Vilnius |
| Youth wing | Pro Patria |
| Membership | 2,005 (2023)[1] |
| Ideology | Nationalism[2][3] National conservatism[4][5] Right-wing populism Soft Euroscepticism Anti-communism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Catholicism |
| Colours | Red |
| Seimas | 1 / 141 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 11 |
| Municipal councils | 2 / 1,461 |
| Mayors | 0 / 60 |
| Website | |
| https://www.susivienijimas.lt | |
History
editOrigins, foundation and the first years (2016–2022)
editThe predecessor to the party was the Vilnius Forum, later the National Forum, a right-wing political movement which criticized globalization, liberalism and LGBT rights, founded in 2016.[8] The founder of the Forum was Vytautas Radžvilas, a political philosopher, professor and former activist of the Sąjūdis during the Singing Revolution, known for his criticism of liberalism and multiple citizenship, as well as Eurosceptic views.[9] During this period, he gained notoriety for a conflict with the administration of Vilnius University, and he claimed he was removed from lecturing in the university's politics and international relations institute because of his right-wing views.[10]
In 2019, Radžvilas established the public election committee "Vytautas Radžvilas: Recover the State!" (Lithuanian: Vytautas Radžvilas: susigrąžinkime valstybę!) to participate in the 2019 European Parliament election in Lithuania. Though he claimed that the European Parliament is powerless, he likened it to the Congress of the People's Deputies in the last years of the Soviet Union, and that it will determine the future of the organization.[11] The committee received 3.35 percent of the votes and did not win any seats.[12]
After the election, the movement considered unification with 2019 presidential candidate Arvydas Juozaitis and the Christian Union, but it failed due to personal conflict and a separate National Alliance was founded on 7 March 2020.[13] It received 2.21 percent of the vote in the 2020 parliamentary election, and received no seats in the Seimas.[14]
In 2021, the party received personal thanks from Viktor Orban for their endorsement of Hungarian anti-LGBT laws.[15]
Most of the party's votes came from Vilnius. According to political scientist Matas Baltrukevičius, it represents the same electorate as the Lithuanian List, a short-lived anti-establishment party which was founded in 2012 and represented in the municipal council of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019.[16]
Gaining representation at municipal and national levels (since 2023)
editIn the 2023 municipal elections, it won 3 seats on the municipal council of Vilnius City Municipality, its most successful election result. One of the party's councillors, Aleksandras Nemunaitis, was expelled in April 2023, as he joined the effort to nominate Artūras Zuokas as leader of the opposition in the Vilnius municipal council, even though the party opposed this move.[17]
In 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election the party gained representation, when party's deputy leader Vytautas Sinica won a single member constituency in Vilnius.[18]
Program and ideology
editThe National Alliance is generally described as a far-right[15][19] party. It claims to be an all-national movement that seeks to restore the ideas of Sąjūdis, the national movement which was responsible for the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990.[20] The party is described as nationalist, with a dream to make "Lithuania forever Lithuanian."[3][21]
It claims to represent a nationalist,[2] socially conservative, Christian worldview, opposes European integration and legalization of multiple citizenship, and demands lustration of all former informants of the KGB.[22] The party's primary objective is opposition to the national strategy of "Global Lithuania", which seeks to maintain the Lithuanian diaspora as an integral part of a "global" Lithuanian state, and demands a strategy towards limiting emigration and encouraging emigrant return. It is also opposed to LGBT rights and states that its purpose is to defend Christianity in Lithuania and Lithuanian ethnicity from extinction.[23]
Economically, the party holds certain populist and interventionist views, such as instituting progressive taxation, strengthening the social safety net and increasing funding for the education system, although it also seeks to "destroy the mentality of dependency" and cut benefits for certain social groups, such as alcoholics, unemployed persons and single mothers whose children's father's identity is unknown.[24]
It does not seek Lithuania's withdrawal from the European Union, but opposes further integration and demands more powers to be returned to the organization's member states. It also demands that the European Union formally recognize its Christian heritage.[25]
Election results
editSeimas
edit| Election | Leader | Votes[a] | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Vytautas Radžvilas | 25,092 | 2.21 (#10) | 0 / 141
|
New | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2024 | 35,630 | 2.87 (#9) | 1 / 141
|
 1
|
Opposition |
- ^ Proportional representation votes.
European Parliament
edit| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019[a] | Vytautas Radžvilas | 41,860 | 3.35 (#10) | 0 / 11
|
New | – |
| 2024 | 25,688 | 3.79 (#11) | 0 / 11
|
 0
|
- ^ As the Public Election Committee "Vytautas Radžvilas: Recover the State!"
Municipal
edit| Election | Votes[a] | % | Council seats | Mayors | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 13,140 | 1.12 (#12) | 3 / 1,498
|
0 / 60
|
- |
- ^ Municipal council election votes.
References
edit- ^ Naureckaitė, Indrė (6 December 2023). "Iš vienų partijų bėga, į kitas puola: atskleidė, kaip atrodo tikrieji partijų veidai". Lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ a b Venckūnas, Vilmantas (10 June 2024). "Sinica: nacionalistinių partijų poreikis atlieptas į EP išrinkus Gražulį". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
Lietuva buvo paskutinė šalis Europos Sąjungoje, neturėjusi aiškiai išreikštos nacionalistinės partijos ir atstovo EP, pretendavome tapti tokiais atstovais.[...]sakė V. Sinica.
- ^ a b "Eksparlamentaras Henrikas Žukauskas: Verčiau būčiau balsavęs už Čaką Norisą". Pozicija (in Lithuanian). 30 October 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Stankevičius, Justas. "Kam reikalingas Nacionalinis susivienijimas?". susivienijimas.lt (in Lithuanian). National Alliance.
Tačiau kas atstovauja konservatyvius piliečius, kuriems rūpi tautinė valstybė Lietuvoje ir kurie gyvenime vadovaujasi krikščioniškomis vertybėmis? Tai viena iš problemų, kurias akcentuoja ir Nacionalinio susivienijimo partijos programa. (But who represents the conservative citizens who care about the nation state in Lithuania and are guided by Christian values? This is one of the problems that the programme of the National Alliance Party highlights.)
- ^ "Philosopher Radzvilas-led National Alliance registered as political party". Delfi. 2 April 2020.
The party's founders emphasize the importance of national identity and the values of Christian civilization, and oppose a deeper EU integration.
- ^ "Įregistruotas filosofo Radžvilo vadovaujamas Nacionalinis susivienijimas". Delfi (in Lithuanian). 2 April 2020.
- ^ "Vytautas Sinica išrinktas į Seimą, jis nugalėjo švietimo ministrę". tv3.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "NUO VILNIAUS FORUMO IKI NACIONALINIO SUSIVIENIJIMO. Politinės tautos steigimo keliu: programinių nuostatų ir veiksmų apžvalga (2016–2019)". National Alliance (in Lithuanian).
- ^ Radžiūnas, Vytenis (30 September 2016). "V. Radžvilas: užsibrėžėme išnykti". LRT (in Lithuanian).
- ^ Vyšniauskaitė, Birutė (14 July 2017). "V. RADŽVILAS: MANE NORI IŠSTUMTI IŠ INSTITUTO DĖL EUROSKEPTIŠKŲ PAŽIŪRŲ". Diena.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "ES su Sovietų sąjunga lyginęs V. Radžvilas dalyvaus EP rinkimuose". Kauno diena (in Lithuanian). 31 January 2019.
- ^ "Balsavimo rezultatai Lietuvoje". Supreme Electoral Commission of Lithuania. 3 June 2019.
- ^ Pankūnas, Gytis (19 February 2020). "Naujų dešiniųjų kūrimasis primena serialą: susivieniję netrukus išsiskirstė, dabar kaltina vienas kitą intrigomis". LRT (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Balsavimo rezultatai daugiamandatėje apygardoje". Supreme Electoral Commission of Lithuania (in Lithuanian). 31 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Lithuanian far-right party receives 'thank you' letter from Hungary's Orbán". LRT (in Lithuanian). 15 July 2021.
- ^ Jurčenkaitė, Indrė (14 February 2023). "Skandaluose besimurkdantiems konservatoriams – signalas iš vilniečių". Delfi.
- ^ https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/nacionalinis-susivienijimas-pasalino-sostines-tarybos-nari-is-partijos.d?id=93585219
- ^ https://www.15min.lt/m/id/aktualu/lietuva/v-sinica-vilniuje-iskovojo-seimo-nario-mandata-nugalejo-svietimo-ministre-56-2332338
- ^ Ulinskaitė, Jogilė; Garškaitė-Antonowicz, Rosita (4 March 2023). "The populist Far Right in Lithuania during Russia's war against Ukraine". European Center for Populism Studies (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Sąjūdžiui 35-eri! Apginsime Sąjūdžio iškovojimus!". National Alliance (in Lithuanian). 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Nacionalistinė partija dalyvauja rinkimuose". LiN.LT naujienos (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ "Steigiamos partijos "Nacionalinis susivienijimas" pirmininku išrinktas V. Radžvilas". Alkas (in Lithuanian). 7 March 2020.
- ^ "Vytautas Radžvilas. Globali Lietuva demografinės krizės patirti negali". National Alliance (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Nacionalinis susivienijimas". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Europos Valstybių sąjungoje – lietuviška Lietuva!" (PDF). Politinės partijos Nacionalinis susivienijimas informacinis leidinys (in Lithuanian). 10 January 2024.