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Nation-wide organisations that express racist or xenophobic sentiments/discourse in the form either of hate speech or promote an anti-migrant and/or anti-minority agenda

Code:
RED36
Key Area:
Political Parties-organisations - Racist & Xenophobic Discourse
Strand(s):
Racism
05/01/2012 - 16:53
Short Answer

Yes, some of them are political parties, others are associations.

Qualitative Info

The Slovenian National Party (SNS), established in 1991, represented in the parliament from 1992 to 2011, promotes racist and xehonophobic attitudes and advocates anti-minority and anti-migrant agenda. Its controversial leader Zmago Jelincic, known for his big collection of guns, has been involved in violence against members of minority communities from former Yugoslavia in early 1990s  (for short period he even organised a para-military unit). Later, in 2005, the party was inolved in an incident with the written threat to the erased residents (belonging to nations of former Yugoslavia in Slovenia) with machine gun displayed on the  SNS office door in the parliament. In number of occassions in the parliament and in the media the Slovenian National Party and its leader have promoted most extreme anti-Roma attitudes and measures (including the bill which denies right to minority protection to Roma). According to some statistics it has 5.500 members. In early 1990s it managed to gain even 10% of votes  at the parliamentary elections (12 seats out of 90 in the parliament), at later elections it has been constantly gaining 4-5 seats, but in December 2011 didn't managed to reach the parliamentary treshold.

Other political parties with open xehophobic, racist or nationalist agenda have disappeared or become irrelevant in the political sphere after 1990s; the list includes parties like: the Slovenian National Right, National Party of Labour, Republicans of Slovenia etc.

Several associations and groups promote racist or xehonophobic sentiments, some of them like Slovenian affiliation of the organisation Blood & Honour have been occasionally camuflaged under other names or tranformed into other  similar institutional  and ideological frameworks, therefore it has been difficult to trace them. Some other associations are working publicly, claiming their profile as "patriotic" and not xenophobic. They work through camps, publishing of books and music (revitalisation of historical national symbols, myths and patriotic songs) grafitti, distribution of T-shirts with controversial symbols, sport activities (Airsoft in Paintball),  sometimes through street rallies, gatherings on the occassion of historical events etc. Their presence, including online, is associated with anti-migrant, anti-Muslims, anti-Roma agenda. Such organisations are "Crni panter" with its project "Tukaj je Slovenija" ("This is Slovenia"), Hervardi and others. It is not clear how big is the membership of these groups and associations, but according to some online contributions of their members there are dozens of members in each organisation, and altogether several hundreds of such activists in Slovenia. According to available information, the membership is composed mainly from young men.

Their engagment in public space have been demostrated through their attacks on students at two faculties in Ljubljana during the anti-facist student manifestations. In response to their appearance. It has been responded by various new manifestations of anti-fa youth movement. The confrontations includes grafitti war on the streets of Ljubljana.

The violent attacks on members of Roma community - the bomb attack in which two women were killed in Dobruska vas (2005), and the mob attack on the Roma family Strojan (2006)  can not be directly connected to the activity of any of the above mentioned political parties or associations, although we can say that the ideas they promote contribute to anti-Roma violence.


Sources:

The Slovenian National Party, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian_National_Party. Date of access: 9.1. 2012.

Project "Tukaj je Slovenija" ("This is Slovenia"), http://www.tu-je.si/. Date of access: 9.1.2012.

Section on migrations within the web site of Hervardi Association, http://www.hervardi.com/migracije_na_slovenskem.php. Date of access: 9.1.2012.

Article "Self-declared national-socialists initiated an incident", MMC RTV Slovenija, http://www.rtvslo.si/crna-kronika/samooklicani-nacionalsocialisti-povzrocili-incident/98874. Date of access: 9.1.2012.

Article "Attack in front of the Faculty of Arts, alledgedly by neonazists", MMC RTV Slovenija, http://www.rtvslo.si/crna-kronika/napad-pred-filozofsko-fakulteto-slo-naj-bi-za-neonaciste/227526. Date of access: 9.1.2012.

Organisations Slovenian National Party (SNS), Crni Panter, Hervardi, etc.
Size - Membership
Groups affected/interested Migrants, Roma & Travelers, Muslims, Ethnic minorities
Type (R/D) Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Islamophobia, Anti-roma/zinghanophobia, Nationalism
Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas Political discourse -parties - orgs
External Url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian_National_Party; http://www.tu-je.si/; http://www.hervardi.com/migracije_na_slovenskem.php
Situation(s)
Library