The Czech Crown (Monarchist Party of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia) Koruna Česká (monarchistická strana Čech, Moravy a Slezska) | |
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| Abbreviation | Koruna Česká |
| President | Vojtěch Círus [cs] |
| Vice President | Luboš Samuel Erbandorf [cs] |
| Founded | 25 November 1990[note 1] |
| Preceded by | Czech Children Movement |
| Headquarters | Revoluční 1082/8,Prague 1 |
| Newspaper | Monarchistický zpravodaj Monarchistické listy |
| Think tank | Royal Institute of Political Science |
| Youth wing | Young Monarchists |
| Membership(2015) | 195[1] |
| Ideology | Monarchism Conservatism Christian democracy Soft Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| International affiliation | International Monarchist Conference[2] |
| Colours | Blue, gold |
| Slogan | "The King belongs to the Castle" |
| Chamber of Deputies | 0 / 200 |
| Senate | 0 / 81 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 21 |
| Local councils | 4 / 61,892 |
| Website | |
| korunaceska.cz | |
Czech Crown (Monarchist Party of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia) (Czech:Koruna Česká (monarchistická strana Čech, Moravy a Slezska),Koruna Česká) is a Czechmonarchist political party that strives for the restoration ofCzech monarchy with theHouse of Habsburg-Lorraine. The party was founded in 1990 and its current leader isVojtěch Círus [cs]. In the2017 Czech legislative election, Koruna Česká ran in a coalition withTOP 09 and received 5.35% of the vote. In the2019 European Parliament election, it ran together with theKDU-ČSL and received 7.24% of the vote.
Koruna Česká is one of the oldest active political parties in theCzech Republic founded after theend of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Its precursor was a monarchist civic initiative, "Czech Children [cs]", founded in 1988 byPetr Placák as a dissident group against thecommunist regime. They published asamizdat magazine calledKoruna.
Koruna Česká as apolitical movement was founded on 25 November 1990 in Prague'sŠvanda Theatre, officially naming itselfCzech Crown (Royalist Movement of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia).Dalibor Stejskal [cs] was elected as its first leader. On 14 December 1991 the first General Assembly of Koruna Česká convened.[1] In 1993 KČ formed a political partnership with theChristian Democratic Party ofVáclav Benda[3] and in the following years they closely cooperated, until the latter merged with theCivic Democratic Party in 1996.[1]
The second leader of KČ (1997–1999) wasDalibor Pták (politician) [cs] and the third (1999–2003) wasMilan Schelinger [cs], a musician and brother of famous Czech rock singerJiří Schelinger. In 2003 KČ was transformed from a political movement into a political party.
In May 2003 Schelinger resigned as the leader of the party[4] and in November 2003Václav Srb [cs], who had been the party'shejtman of Bohemia, was elected as the new leader. Since 2004 the party has actively contested in every election. In the2006 Czech municipal elections they gained their first local councillors and mayors.
While in the early years, the official position of KČ was that they have no authority to decide who would be the new Czech king, in 2007 KČ clarified its monarchist position aslegitimism (actively supporting the claim of theHouse of Habsburg-Lorraine as descendants ofCharles I of Austria, the lastKing of Bohemia).
In 2011 KČ suffered an internal crisis when a "conservative platform" was formed, critical of the policy of the party and striving to shift its political position more in anational conservative direction. The conservative platform tried to take over the party, but it was defeated during the XX General Assembly in November 2011. Many of its members then left the party and founded a conservative monarchist association called MONOS.
In the2013 Czech presidential election, the first direct presidential election in the country, KČ boycotted the election, as it was contrary to its goal of unelected head of state. At the same time, an independent monarchist candidate, sculptorEmil Adamec [cs] announced his candidacy, but he failed to gather enough signatures of citizens to become a candidate. Some members of KČ supported him,[5] while others urged the party to support the candidacy ofKarel Schwarzenberg as anaristocrat and a personal friend of the royal house. KČ remained neutral, but issued a statement that if monarchists want to participate, then Schwarzenberg is the best choice.[6] Some KČ members also created mock ballots forKarl von Habsburg as an heir to the throne, which garnered some media attention.[7][8]
In the2013 legislative election KČ competed in 11 of 14 regions. They were locally successful inHlinná inÚstí nad Labem Region, where they got 16% of the vote.[9]
In the2014 Senate election a coalition candidate of KČ andODS --Lumír Aschenbrenner [cs] -- was successful inPlzeň. In the XXIII General Assembly on 29 November 2014Petr Nohel [cs] defeatedPetr Krátký (politician) [cs] with 72% of the vote to become the new leader of the party.
In the2017 legislative election, Koruna Česká -- together with theConservative Party andClub of Committed Non-Party Members -- agreed to jointly endorseTOP 09, while TOP 09 added candidates of the smaller parties to its list.[10][11][12] The TOP 09 list eventually received 5.3% of the vote, winning seven seats in the parliament, albeit none of them for KČ members.
In the2018 presidential election KČ again boycotted the election and urged their members to cast a symbolic but invalid ballot forKarl von Habsburg.[13] But in the2018 Czech Senate election,Jitka Chalánková, an independent candidate running with the support of Koruna Česká and theConservative Party, was successful.[14][15]
In the XXVII General Assembly in November 2018,Radim Špaček (politician) [cs] was elected as the new leader of the party.link=https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubor:Logo_of_Monarchiste.cz.svg|thumb|267x267px|Another version of the logo usedIn the2019 European Parliament election Koruna Česká, together with other smaller parties, formed a coalition with theKDU-ČSL; their combined list received 7.24% of the vote. After the election, KČ suggested Archduke Karl von Habsburg as the nextPresident of the European Commission and sent a formal request to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic to support him.[16] Since June 2019 Czech royalists have been heavily involved in the protests against Prime MinisterAndrej Babiš and PresidentMiloš Zeman as was reported by some Czech media and theInternational Monarchist League.[17]
Koruna Česká'sPresidium, resulting from the party's XXXth General Assembly held on 1 April 2023 inKroměříž:[18][19]
| # | Person | Photo | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dalibor Stejskal [cs] | 19 December 1991 – 24 February 1996 | |
| 2 | Dalibor Pták (politician) [cs] | 24 February 1996 – 3 June 1999 | |
| 3 | Milan Schelinger [cs] |  | 3 June 1999 – 29 November 2003 |
| 4 | Václav Srb [cs] | .jpg) | 29 November 2003 – 29 November 2014 |
| 5 | Petr Nohel [cs] |  | 29 November 2014 – 24 November 2018 |
| 6 | Radim Špaček (politician) [cs] |  | 24 November 2018 – 1 April 2023 |
| 7 | Vojtěch Círus [cs] |  | from 1 April 2023 |
Since 2015, at its general assemblies, Koruna Česká has granted honorary membership to prominent public figures who are related to the party in thought and have contributed significantly to the promotion of its ideas.[20] Honorary membership in the Koruna Česká was awarded to the following personalities:
In addition to honorary members, there is also the honorary position of honorary chairman, held by former chairmanVáclav Srb [cs].
| Year | Votes (in %) | Votes (in numbers) | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 0.13% | 7293 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0.07% | 4024 | 0 |
| 2013 | 0.17% | 8932 | 0 |
| 2017 | 5.35%[note 2] | 268 811[note 3] | 0 |
| 2021 | 0.16% | 8635 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0.13% | 7313 | 0 |
| Year | Vote | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 0.21% | 0 |
| 2009 | 0.19% | 0 |
| 2014 | 0.16% | 0 |
| 2019 | 7.24%[note 4] | 0 |
Representatives who have been nominated by or are members of the Koruna Česká are counted.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| International | |
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