Süd-Tiroler Freiheit National Assembly

The speeches of Eva Klotz, Sven Knoll, Myriam Atz Tammerle and Cristian Kollmann expressed the commitment of the party South Tyrolean Freedom. STF defended the German toponomy in front of the Italian substitution as well as the commitment for the double pass continues. And this promise came from none other than the governor-deputy of Upper Austria and FPÖ (Austrian Freedom Party) party deputy chairman Dr.-Ing. Manfred Haimbuchner. Haimbuchner was the keynote speaker at this year's State Assembly of South Tyrolean Freedom.

"Wir schützen unsere Heimat" ("We protect our homeland") was the motto of the National Assembly in Maretsch Castle on October 26th. One goal: more democracy.The scandal over the designation "South Tyrol" instead of "Alto Adige" and the subsequent back rowing of the state government are still present to all, said the member of parliament of South Tyrolean freedom Sven Knoll.


In the municipal elections South Tyrolean freedom wants to expand the second place. This was the lead at the regional assembly in Bolzano as an election target. Above all, the members of the council of South Tyrol's freedom want to exercise a controlling function. And for the elections, the main goal is "more democracy". For Sven Knoll, this means that where SVP alone has the say, more diversity, more South Tyrolean freedom, must be present.

Incidentally, not only the Tyrolean flag but also the Austrian flag were hoisted at Maretsch Castle - in close relationship to Austria and the Austrian National Day, much as the South Tyrolean Schützenbund did, but the flag of South Tyrolean freedom was much smaller than that the shooter in Terlan.

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Memorial service for Tyrolean fighter Luis Amplatz

55 years ago freedom fighter Luis Amplatz was murdered on behalf of Italy. The lieutenant of the  Grieser Schützenkompanie had been shot cowardly by a paid Italian agent in his sleep.
At the memorial service, Eva Klotz Südtiroler Freiheit) emphatically explained the events and the last hours in the life of Luis Amplatz. More than 300 people took part in the commemoration by Südtiroler Heimatbundes, Süd-Tiroler Freiheit, and Südtiroler Schützenbundes of the freedom fighter Luis Amplatz last Sunday September 1st despite a more than one-hour walk on the Brunner Mahdern above Saltaus in the Passeiertal valley.

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South Tyrolean Freedom Party Presents Its Booklet for Students

The new Tyrolean booklet for students from all over Tyrol, which was presented today by the Junge Süd-Tiroler Freiheit. In this issue, there is a guide for the students who are led to generally no longer use fascist place names.

The Tyrolean booklet is an essential part of many school bags and is one of the most successful publications of South Tyrolean Freedom party. It contains interesting facts from all over Tyrol - from folktales to historical reports, dialect words and Tyrolean personalities - and is intended to promote a sense of unity among the students of the Tyrol.

This year's edition 2019/2020 is dedicated to the place name environment, the South Tyrolean freedom fighters Jörg Klotz and Luis Amplatz, the 100-year peace dictation of Saint-Germain and other exciting topics always related to Tyrol. On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Jörg Klotz and the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Luis Amplatz, the Tyrolean booklet focuses on the two freedom fighters. Since the freedom struggle of the 1960s is hardly taught at the schools, the students should be given a brief introduction to this important chapter of recent Tyrolean contemporary history.

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Tyrolean nationalists cover 600 Italian road signs: "The German name has not been official for 97 years"

The South Tyrolean group protest on the unresolved question of toponymy. The South Tyrolean Schützen have covered the German name on six hundred road signs with the inscription "Dna-Seit 97J, Deutch nicht amtlich". Which, translated, means: "The German name has not been official for 97 years". Tthe heirs of the popular militias of the Tyrolean national hero Andreas Hofer - now legally recognized as a cultural association although they have a paramilitary organization - want to return to the long-standing question of toponymy in South Tyrol.

In the Autonomous Province bilingualism is protected by law because there are two different linguistic communities: the German one (almost three quarters of the population) and the Italian one (just under a quarter). But, although toponymy is everywhere in two languages, there is still no law formalizing the names in German. After the annexation of Alto Adige to Italy at the end of the First World War, fascism abolished the toponymy in German. After the Second World War, the German toponymy was restored, but without a law that officially recognized it.

The local government party, the Südtiroler Volkspartei, which represents the interests of the German linguistic group, approved in 2012 a provision that formalized the names in German, but decaying those in Italian. With the risk that famous toponyms, such as the "Vetta d'Italia", disappeared from the geography books. The law was challenged before the Constitutional Court and, at the end of a long tug-of-war, was abrogated by the Italian courts on 13 April this year.

The Schützen protest takes place on the birthday of Ettore Tolomei, author of the handbook of South Tyrolean toponymes and considered among the most significant exponents of Italian irredentism, born August 16, 1865 and died in May 1952.

"We are on a swing, which is in motion, but does not move forward", says the new commander of the South Tyrolean Schützen (which as mentioned was organized in battalions and regiments) Jürgen Wirth Anderlan. "In this open wound of our history - he continues - tourism associations and companies throw salt using the work of Tolomei and his pseudo Italian inventions".

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South Tyrolean national party keeps a MEP with a 46,8 %

The South Tyrolean Popular Party (SVP) obtained 142,185 votes, up from 138,037. The German speaking right party keeps a MEP with a 46,82 %. Meanwhile the coalition Autonomie per l'Europa (UV, UVP, Alpe, Stella Alpina and Epav) from the Arpitan speaking Aosta Valley cannot win a siege with 17,692 votes. In the Valley the list took a 13,9 %.

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„Mitteleuropäische Allianz“, the Central European Alliance of Nations Without State

At the beginning of March, the General Assembly of the European Free Alliance (EFA) was held in Brussels. The Central European member parties of the EFA established a cross-border working group of non-state peoples, ethnic minorities and regionalists in central Europe.

The working group is called "Central European Alliance". It wants to strengthen cross-border cooperation within Central Europe and make the common interests of the affected regions more heard. The Nations Without State parties in Central Europe have many similarities: historical, cultural, political and economic. But the regions in Central Europe are also a fateful community, as the 1919 "Peace Treaty", with its arbitrary new demarcations, is the source of the problems of most nationss without state, ethnic minority and regionalists.

"We are convinced that a cross-border Europe of self-determined peoples and regions can only function if supported by politics, and as members of the European Free Alliance, we want to play a pioneering role in regrouping what belongs together . "

The „Mitteleuropäische Allianz“ (Central European Alliance) consists of the following EFA member parties:

1.Bayernpartei, Bavaria.
2. Enotna Lista, Slovene in Carinthia, Austria.
3. Erdély Magyar Néppárt, Hungarians in Szeklerland, Romania
4. Lausitzer Allianz (Lusatian Alliance), Lusatia
5. Liga Socijaldemokrata Vojvodine, Vojvodina, Serbia
6. Lista per Fiume, Italians from Croatia
7.Magyar Kereszténydemokrata Szövetség, (Hungarian Christian Democratic Association), Hungary
8. Moravské Zemské Hnutí (Moravian Land Movement), Moravian
9. Oljka, Slovene Istria
10. Ruch Autonomii Śląska, Silesia, Poland.
11. South Tyrolean Freedom, Tyrolean Germans in Italy.
12. Unser Land (Our country), Alsace

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Primary schools in South Tyrol with more foreigners than locals

A survey from the South Tyrolean Freedom (Süd-Tiroler Freiheit) has revealed that in South Tyrol, the proportion of foreign children in three elementary schools is higher than that of the natives. Front runner is the elementary school Franzensfeste, which has a foreigner share of almost 80 percent (78.95%). Even in the primary schools Waidbruck and Blumau, the proportion of foreigners is higher than that of the natives. Compared to the previous year, the percentage of non-EU citizens in a total of 92 primary schools has increased in percentage terms.

The reality should be much worse. Since the state government distinguishes in the figures provided only between Italian citizens, EU citizens and non-EU citizens, but not between Germans and Italians, it can be assumed that the proportion of German-speaking South Tyrol in elementary schools is much lower, especially More and more Italians enroll their children in German educational institutions.

"If the proportion of students in different languages ​​in a class is so high, teachers can no longer perform their learning material and language support at primary school as planned. In the end, nobody has any idea if the quality of the language development of the German language at primary school age is dwindling, "explains Myriam Atz Tammerle, member of the South Tyrolean Freedom.

Accordingly, the South Tyrolean freedom calls for immediate action with an upper limit for non-German-speaking children must be set at the German elementary schools in order to be able to continue to fulfill the essential task of language teaching.

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Autonomists from Italy met in Friuli

Südtiroler Volkspartei, Slovenska Skupnost, Union Valdôtaine, Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese, Patto per l'Autonomia di Friuli Venezia Giulia e Veneto met on March 7th in Udine, Friuli. The round table that took place at Palazzo Belgrade gathered together some of the most important representatives of the autonomy of Northern Italy. At the meeting representatives of five parties agreed to join forces both at state and European levels.

* Presidente del Patto per l’Autonomia, Luca Azzano Cantarutti,
rappresentante del Patto per l’Autonomia-Veneto, Herbert Dorfmann -Europarlamentare della Südtiroler Volkspartei, Igor Gabrovec -
Consigliere regionale del Friuli-Venezia Giulia della Slovenska Skupnost, Erik Lavevaz - Presidente dell’Union Valdôtaine,
Ugo Rossi - Capogruppo in Consiglio provinciale
del Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese, già presidente della Provincia Autonoma di Trento.

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Südtiroler Heimatbund: Autonomous Government Violations of Bilingualism Laws

In a statement released today, Roland Lang, Obmann of the Südtiroler Heimatbund, expresses the disappointment of its association towards the President of the Autonomous Province, Arno Kompatscher (South Tiroler People's Party, SVP), for the failure to intervene on the occasion of violations of Bilingualism, mandatory on the territory of the Südtirol.

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Italy will declare unconstitutional the law of German toponyms in South Tyrol

South Tyrolean governor Arno Kompatscher has announced that the law which had led to the cancellation of about 130 Italian names from signage, mostly in small towns and in correspondence of passages, peaks and other landmarks in the mountain environment will be repealed.

The Italian toponyms, even if imposed by the Fascist government in 1923 after the annexation of Alto Adige to Italy at the end of the First World War. Kompatscher has declared that the law, which will be discussed during a hearing of the Constitutional Court on April 2nd, will certainly be declared unconstitutional and therefore the South Tyrolean council has therefore decided to repeal it.

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Tribute to Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean Patriot, in Meran

Around 1,500 people gathered in Meran on February 17 for the tribute to the Tyrolean patriot Andreas Hofer (1767-18109). The event, organized by Südtiroler Schützenbund, was attended by the commander-in-chief, Elmar Thaler, who commented that the membership in southern Tyrol in the Italian state was negative for the southern part of Tyrol. He criticized excess laws, bureaucracy, harassment of business, car confiscation, "only because there is a foreign brand "Felicia Gamper, Miss Tirol, reviewed the shooters of the Südtiroler Schützenbund.

Thaler urged "to take a look at the story when Tyrol was one, when it did not depend on the Italian politicians, the Italian administration and the Italian habits we imposed." Hiltraud Erschbamer recalled that Hofer had some very special features that allowed him to be a model today: religiousness, loyalty, sense of duty and sense of responsibility.

Video link

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Süd-Tiroler Freiheit winter think tank in Obernberg

Süd-Tiroler Freiheit (South Tyrolean Freedom ) party held its winter meeting with the officials on Saturday and Sunday, 9-10 February. The aim wass to make better use of the members' skills, to improve communication both internally and externally, and to further develop the dense network in the villages.

The pro independence party has more than 4,400 members. The movement has 41 councilors and 60 local people elected at different levels. The two-day exam was therefore intended to improve networking with one another and to make greater use of the potential of many members and officials.

This year, the course is set for a successful municipal council election in May 2020. The goal: to take part in the municipal elections in as many places as possible, to expand the presence in the villages and thus to carry the concerns of the movement in all corners of the country.

At the think tank in Obernberg the members, local councils, local spokespersons, heads of state and main committees, youth and women's representatives of the South Tyrolean Freedom took part.

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Süd-Tiroler Freiheit demands that the South Tyrol President should be directly elected by the people

Süd-Tiroler Freiheit voted against Arno Kompatscher as South Tyrol President on January 17th. STF demanded a "directly elect president". The MPs of the South Tyrolean Freedom party, Sven Knoll and Myriam Atz-Tammerle, defended that the president should be directly elected by the people. "The current regulation provides that the president is elected by the state parliament and thus on the basis of party political interests. This excludes voters from one of the most important decisions of the country. "The South Tyrolean freedom has therefore renewed its demand to amend the electoral law so that the governor can be elected directly by the people in the future.

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The Academy of the Basque Language forms an Alliance of Academies of minority languages in Europe

The Academy of the Basque Language (1919) is the official body responsible for Basque, that is the Basque language. It carries out research on the language and its object is to safeguard it; the Academy has formulated the rules for the normalisation of the language. The Basque name of this language academy is Euskaltzaindia.

On January 18th, the third Euskaltzaindia centennial academic congress concluded in Iruñea/Pamplona, in which 19 experts discussed the care of minority languages. One of the most mentioned subjects in the congress was the one of a possible alliance between academies that worry about the minority languages in Europe, and that entente took place at noon, with the agreement that the Academy of the Basque Language has presented.

Euskaltzaindia, has promoted an agreement, seconded by different international organizations and institutions, to defend the rights of speakers of minority languages in Europe.

The agreement was seconded by :
- Andrés Urrutia (Euskaltzaindia),
- Cor van der Meer (Fryske Akademy),
- Benoit Dazeas (Lo Congrès Permanent de la Lenga Occitan),
- Henrique Monteagudo (Galician Academy),
- Joan Argenter (Institut d'Estudis Catalans),
- Elena Chiocchetti (EURAC-Institute for Applied Linguistics, South Tyrol).

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SVP to form a Nations Without State Alliance for the European Elections

The SVP (South Tyrolean People's Party) closed an agreement with the Christian-democratic and centrist PATT (Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party) in Bozen on January 23rd. The SVP will meet also with the Friulian Patto per l'Autonomia, the Union Valdotaine and the Slovenian Slovenska Skupnost, to join an alliance for the European elections, which SVP and PATT have decided to run jointly confirming the alliance. 

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Arno Kompatscher elected new President of South Tyrol

Arno Kompatscher on January 17th succeeded himself with a majority-elect SVP (South Tyrolean People's Party)-Lega, which voted in full with 19 votes in favor over 35 after being formally nominated as a unitary candidate of the Südtiroler Volkspartei and the Lega Salvini Alto Adige-Südtirol.

In his inaugural address, the president made explicit reference to the two guiding principles of the government program: "legality and humanity". According to Kompatscher, this is "of values ​​that we are called today to confirm not only with words but also with deeds, to face this theme not with fear but looking optimistically at the future, trying to manage this issue and not to suffer it". The president confirmed that he wanted to act as a guarantor for the respect of these values.

Kompatscher underlined the importance of confirming his mandate: "we live in a particular land, made up of special people who work for themselves but also for the common good, a correct, just and supportive land, aware of their own history but with look towards the future ». Immediately after the election of the president, the Board also appointed the three vice-presidents, one for each language group: Giuliano Vettorato (Lega) for the Italian linguistic group, Arnold Schuler (Svp) for the German group and Daniel Alfreider (Svp) for the Ladin group.

Immediately after his election, discussion began in the Council on the legislature program, where Kompatscher recalled as "the values ​​that inspire him" referring in particular "to the values ​​of autonomy and Europe, with the aim of guaranteeing equal opportunities, security from a social point of view and a sustainable economic development ".

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South Tyrol coalition pact with Lega approved by SVP committees

The coalition pact between the South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP, Südtiroler VolksPartei) and the Lega was approved on January 7th Nals by members of the SVP Committees, SVP local people and SVP mayors. The decision was taken with 503 of the 519 present voters. There was no dissenting vote, the SVP said in a release.

After the announcement of the two parliamentary groups about the majority formation, the state parliament is convened for the election of the governor. The election of the new state government takes place at another session of the state parliament. The Lega had turned in the dispute over the number of South Tyrolean seats in the Italian Senate and thus removed the crucial obstacle to participation in the future state government with the South Tyrol People's Party (SVP). There will continue to be at least three senators per province, said Lega Senator Roberto Calderoli in Bolzano.

The SVP had retracted in the state election on 21 October last year with 41.9 %t, the worst result in their party history.

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South Tyrol: SVP blocks negotitations after the cancellation of a Senate seat in South Tyrol

South Tyrolean People's Party and Lega have agreed on a state government. But only when the autonomy conflict with Rome is resolved, it will come to forming a government. Arno Kompatscher has already made it clear: The government negotiations with the Lega are one thing: a party-internal matter of the South Tyrol People's Party (SVP).

The autonomous attitude of Rome with the cancellation of a Senate seat in South Tyrol - from three to two - without prior consultation with Bolzano and Vienna, as provided in the Statute of Autonomy, is a question of South Tyrol. But that also has implications for a coalition and could overturn successful government talks with the Lega.

The proportionality of the language groups must also be ensured with a comprehensible reduction of Senate seats from 315 to 200. Possibly South Tyrol will retain its three seats - two for German-speaking senators and one for an Italian mandator - and Trentino will receive two in the future. This is also the preferred variant of Arno Kompatscher. Only when this question is satisfactorily clarified, the SVP gives the green light. Both Kompatscher and Achammer were satisfied with the government program.

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Tribute to Sepp Kerschbaumer and the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee

Sepp Kerschbaumer (9 November 1913 – 7 December 1964) was a leading member of the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee (Befreiungsausschuss Südtirol, BAS). In 1961, the BAS staged the so-called Feuernacht (Night of Fire), the destruction of 37 electricity pylons, which escalated the South Tyrol conflict. Large parts of the South Tyroleans regarded them as freedom fighters.

The tribute was held on December 8th in Eppan where Kerschbaumer was born. He was a local leader of the Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP between 1946 and 1957 but became frustrated at what he felt was the too conciliatory attitude of the party and founded the BAS.

Kerschbaumer was arrested and tortured by police. The rumored mistreatment of Kerschbaumer may have contributed to further escalation of events. Being the leading member of BAS, Sepp Kerschbaumer was sentenced to fifteen years and eleven months on July 16, 1964 for organizing the bombing. On 7 December 1964 he died in prison in Verona of a heart attack.

Around 2,000 people from Der Südtiroler Schützenbund and Südtiroler Heimatbund marched in Eppan dressed in the local style. Hans-Jürg Humer, former BAS militant arrested in 1967 and jailed until 1972 addressed the crowd. Ehrenformation der Schützenkompanie „Sepp Kerschbaumer“ (honorary formation of the rifle company "Sepp Kerschbaumer") fired several gun salutes.

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