This article gives an overview of liberalism in Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

. It is limited to liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Background

Liberals became active since 1860 in Dalmatia and since 1904 in the rest of Croatia. It never became a major political party.

History

After the restoration of democracy in 1989 liberalism became very divided. At the moment one could distinguish four parties: the right of center Croatian Social Liberal Party

Croatian Social Liberal Party

Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was...

 (Hrvatska socijalno liberalna stranka, member LI

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

, ELDR) and the two center liberal parties Liberal Party

Liberal Party (Croatia)

Liberal Party was a Croatian political party active between January 1998 and April 2006. During its existence the party ran in two general elections and in each election won two seats in the 151-seat Sabor. LS was a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...

 (Liberalna stranka, member LI

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

, ELDR) and Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats

Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats

The Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats is a center-left liberal party in Croatia.HNS currently has 5 representatives in the Croatian Parliament and are the fourth largest political party in Croatia and fourth in the number of representatives if the coalitions are included...

 (Croatian Hrvatska narodna stranka - Liberalni Demokrati, observer LI

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

, member ELDR). Main media exponents of Croatian liberalism or liberal ideas include or included newspapers Novi list

Novi list

Novi list is the oldest Croatian daily newspaper published in Rijeka. It is most read in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia....

and Glas Istre

Glas Istre

Glas Istre is a Croatian regional daily newspaper published in Pula which mainly covers stories of interest from the Istria region in the northwest of the country...

, culture magazine Zarez and the defunct weekly Feral Tribune

Feral Tribune

Feral Tribune was a Croatian political weekly magazine. Based in Split, it first started as a political satire supplement in Nedjeljna Dalmacija before evolving into an independent satirical weekly paper in 1993...

.

1860–1945

National Party

• 1860: National liberals formed in Dalmatia the National party (Narodna Stranka). The party developed into a conservative party around 1889.

From Progressive Party to Progressive Democratic Party

• 1904: Progressive liberals formed the Progressive Party (Napredna Stranka)
• 1906: The NS merged with the ⇒ Democratic Party into the Croatian People's Progressive Party (Hrvatska Pučka Napredna Stranka)
• 1910: The party merged with the Croatian Party of the Right (Hrvatska Strannka Prava) into the Croatian Independent Party (Hrvatska Samostalna Stranka)
• 1918: The party is reorganised into the Progressive Democratic Party (Napredna Demokratska Stranka)
• 1919: The party became part of the conservative Croatian Community (Hrvatska Zajednica)

Democratic Party (Dalmatia)

• 1906: Dalmatian liberals formed the Democratic Party (Demokratska Stranka)
• 1908: The DS merged into the ⇒ Croatian People's Progressive Party

From Democratic Community to Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)

• 1919: Croatian liberals became part of the Yugoslav State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats (Državnotvorna Stranka Demokrata Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca)
• 1919: The party is renamed into the Democratic Community (Demokratska Zajednica)
• 1920: The party is renamed into the Democratic Party
  Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)
  The Yugoslav Democratic Party, State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats and Democratic Party was the name of a series of social-liberal political parties that existed in succession in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom...
  
  (Demokratska Stranka)
• 1924: A faction formed the ⇒ Independent Democratic Party
• 1945: The party is dissolved

Independent Democratic Party

• 1924: The former Serbian Independent Party seceded from the ⇒ Democratic Party and constituted the Independent Democratic Party
  Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)
  The Independent Democratic Party was a social liberal political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was established by Svetozar Pribićević as a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party in 1924...
  
  (Samostalna Demokratska Stranka), led by Svetozar Pribićević
  Svetozar Pribicevic
  Svetozar Pribićević was an ethnic Serb politician from Croatia who worked hard for creation of unitaristic Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy and of the dictatorship of king Aleksandar Karađorđević...
  
  , mainly active in the Serbian population of Croatia
  Croatia
  Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
  
  
• 1945: The party is dissolved

1989–present

Croatian Social Liberal Union / Croatian Social Liberal Party

• 1989: Liberals formed the Croatian Social Liberal Union
  Croatian Social Liberal Party
  Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was...
  
  (Hrvatski Socijalno Liberalni Savez), renamed in 1990 into the Croatian Social Liberal Party
  Croatian Social Liberal Party
  Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was...
  
  (Hrvatska Socijalno Liberalna Stranka)
• 1998: A left-wing faction formed the ⇒ Liberal Party
• 2002: A faction secedes to formed the ⇒ Party of Liberal Democrats

Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats

• 1990: Dissident communists formed the liberal Croatian People's Party (Hrvatska narodna stranka)
• 2005: The ⇒ Party of Liberal Democrats merges into the party, which is renamed into Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats
  Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats
  The Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats is a center-left liberal party in Croatia.HNS currently has 5 representatives in the Croatian Parliament and are the fourth largest political party in Croatia and fourth in the number of representatives if the coalitions are included...
  
  (Hrvatska narodna stranka - Liberalni Demokrati)

Liberal Party

• 1998: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Croatian Social Liberal Party formed the Liberal Party (Liberalna Stranka)

Party of Liberal Democrats

• 2002: A faction of the ⇒ Croatian Social Liberal Party led by Jozo Radoš
  Jozo Radoš
  Jozo Radoš is a Croatian centre-left politician, currently a prominent member of the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats.In the 1990s he was a member of the Croatian Social Liberal Party ....
  
   formed the Party of Liberal Democrats (LIBRA - Stranka liberalnih demokrata)
• 2003: LIBRA wins three Parliament seats
• February 6, 2005: most of the 248 representatives of Libra on its second convention voted to merge with the Croatian People's Party
• 2005: The party of Liberal Democrats merges into the ⇒ Croatian People's Party, which is renamed into Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats
  Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats
  The Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats is a center-left liberal party in Croatia.HNS currently has 5 representatives in the Croatian Parliament and are the fourth largest political party in Croatia and fourth in the number of representatives if the coalitions are included...