Souverainism

The Souveränismus is a political school of thought which advocates the ownership or maintenance of the political autonomy of a nation or a region. It is directed against supra - national perspectives such as the European federalism. The Souveränismus is related to nationalism.

It was formed in 1992 as a pan-European critical flow in French politics in the debate about the Treaty of Maastricht.

Ideology of Souveränismus

As the source of all legitimate political power, the classic nation alone is considered, which is organized in the nation-state. As a counter-model to the EU as a union of states which propagate mostly souverainistes allegedly to Charles de Gaulle returning Keyword Europe of nations. The nation is not understood in the sense of ethnic as ethnic or community of descent, but as a political nation of consensus.

Jürgen Elsässer describes the Souveränismus in 2001 as follows: "In contrast to right or right-wing nationalists have the advocates of sovereignty (which is why they sometimes call a decidedly universalist and anti- nationalist understanding of nation, which goes back to the French Revolution, even as a Republican or as a Jacobin. ) the historian Claude Nicolet explains the difference: " the word ' French ' had taken up to the eve of the revolution of the needle fitting which relied on a Germanic origin; since it refers to all citizens of a country whose population was knowingly and willingly mixed from the beginning. " Chevènement praises that France " every year around 100,000 foreigners French citizenship " and thus confers in Europe" quite alone " stands. "

Characteristic of the French advocates of sovereignty is also the belief in German ulterior motives in the European unification. So the former L' Humanité editor Pierre Lévy wrote to European politics: "Against the EU dominated by Germany and we need their war policy, a broad coalition including the Gaullists - as in the times of the Resistance! "

Individual items

Both the Left Party and Peter Gauweiler have complaints against the Treaty of Lisbon brought because " the sovereign statehood " Germany was to be closed by the consent of the Reform Treaty.

Bundeswehr missions abroad will be rejected by the advocates of sovereignty. From the politics of the Greens towards Africa says Gauweiler that this was " the enlightened humanity of colonialists: The Africans can not take into their own hands, so we must do it. "

Representatives of Souveränismus

Well-known German representative of Souveränismus are on the conservative side, Franz Josef Strauss and Peter Gauweiler and in the left Diether Dehm and Oskar Lafontaine.

Known representatives of the Gaullist Nicolas Dupont- Aignan are république with his party Debout la and Linkssouveränist Jean -Pierre Chevènement with his party Mouvement citoyen et républicain in France. The Front National is not traditionally associated with the Souveränismus because of its ideological roots, however, refers to the new party leader Marine Le Pen also their party as " souveränistisch ". Among the advocates of sovereignty include the deputies of the Communist PCF.

Other European sovereignist formations are the Slovak National Party, the Serbian Radical Party and the Communist Party of Greece.