Bornholmer Party

Bornholm forms part of the ancient Lands of Denmark, many of which were originally petty kingdoms or chiefdoms. It's the official stance of the Bornholm's Self-Government Party that the island was governed by its own petty king during the Viking Age.{{cite web|url=http://sprogmuseet.dk/religion/biblijn-pa-borrijnholmsk/|title=Biblijn på borrijnholmsk|last=Dahl|first=Camilla Luise|date=12 February 2012|website=www.sprogmuseet.dk|language=Danish|publisher=Danish Language Museum|accessdate=28 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029005838/http://sprogmuseet.dk/religion/biblijn-pa-borrijnholmsk/|archive-date=29 October 2014|url-status=dead}} Regardless, Bornholm ended up hotly contested ground between different Danish factions, and the site of frequent battles. During the 16th century, starting 1525, the island was pawned to Lübeck for 50 years. From 1624 and on it had its own militia, Bornholms Milits. Ceded to Sweden – together with Scania, to which it belonged, along with other provinces such as Bohuslän – in the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde, the island's population threw out the Swedes the same year. As a reward for returning to King Frederick III, Bornholm received a promise never to be ceded again. First occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, Bornholm saw heavy damage during the war, and was also occupied by the Soviet Union until 1946. Since the Second World War, Bornholm has seen a demographic decline, with a large drop in population numbers and birth rates, as well as employment issues.

The party was founded in the 1990s by its longtime leader Tonny Borrinjaland.{{cite web |last1=Selliah |first1=Mathias Klitgaard |last2=Heim |first2=Simon Wincentz |title=Borrinjalands utrættelige selvstændighedskamp |url=https://tidende.dk/bornholm/borrinjalands-utraettelige-selvstaendighedskamp/109292 |website=tidende.dk |access-date=13 March 2025}} Borrinjaland claimed that in the 1960s he had been rejected by the girl he loved, and contemplated suicide before going on a years long voyage sailing across the world. On this trip he was terribly homesick and claimed that he found his calling in preserving the Bornholmer dialect and returned to Bornholm in the 1990s founding the party as a vehicle to achieve self-government which Borrinjaland claims is the only way to propagate Bornholmer.

The party has since participated in six municipal elections, gaining 299 votes in the 2009 elections and 190 votes in 2013.{{cite news |last1=Bjerre Andersen|first1=Fredrik|last2=Ebdrup|first2=Niels|date=15 November 2009|title=Skæve og skægge - se valgets originaler|url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/politik/article4195029.ece|language=Danish|newspaper=Ekstra Bladet|location=Copenhagen, Denmark|accessdate=28 October 2014}}{{cite news |last=Hansen|first=Bjarne|date=16 June 2012|title=Selvstyreparti søger partistøtte |url=http://www.bornholm.nu/?Id=43029 |language=Danish|newspaper=Bornholm.nu|location=Rønne, Denmark|accessdate=28 October 2014}}{{cite news |last=Alsen Lauridsen|first=Michael|date=18 September 2014|title=Bornholmsk frihedskamp får næring fra Skotland|url=http://www.b.dk/nationalt/bornholmsk-frihedskamp-faar-naering-fra-skotland|language=Danish|newspaper=Berlingske|location=Copenhagen, Denmark|accessdate=28 October 2014}} The party attributed its decline from 2009 to 2013 due to its boycott of radio and television debates due to the requirement of speaking in Danish.{{cite web |last1=Lindeloff |first1=Vilhelm |title=Bornholms Selvstyre Parti skifter navn til Bornholmerpartiet. Ifølge formanden skyldtes det blandt andet, at vælgerne blev forvirrede over det tidligere navn. |url=https://www.tv2bornholm.dk/?newsID=95262 |website=tv2bornholm |access-date=13 March 2025}}

During the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the party expressed its sympathies for the cause of Scottish independence, and stated that it had a lot to learn from the Scots. Party leader Borrinjaland also pointed to Malta and Singapore as two other models that Bornholm should learn from.{{cite news|author= |date=18 September 2014|title=Scottish vote inspires Bornholm's independence party|url=http://cphpost.dk/news/scottish-vote-inspires-bornholms-independence-party.10903.html|newspaper=The Copenhagen Post|location=Copenhagen, Denmark|accessdate=28 October 2014}}

In 2015 then 75 year old party chairman Tonny Borrinjaland changed the name of the party to the Bornholmer Party ({{langx|da|Bornholmerpartiet}}) to make it easier to remember. During this rebranding the party also dropped its support for stringent independence, instead following a position of autonomy, and a deeper focus on local issues such as the economy. However, despite changing their message, in the 2017 elections the party declined further, earning just 97 votes.

During the 2021 elections Borrinjaland broke from the party and instead ran on the Danish People's Party's list.{{cite web |last1=Kaas |first1=Tommy |title=Tonny Borrinjaland har skiftet Bornholms Selvstyre Parti ud med Dansk Folkeparti. På tirsdag står han på liste O med otte andre navne. |url=https://www.tv2bornholm.dk/artikel/valgets-aeldste-kandidat-blev-shanghajet-af-df |website=tv2bornholm.dk |access-date=13 March 2025}} At 80 years old he was the oldest candidate to stand for the election. The People's Party explained that Borrinjaland was given no concessions to join the party, and that he had dropped most regionalist issues, other than teaching Bornholmsk in schools.

File:Flag of Denmark Bornholm.svg supported by Borrinjaland and the party.]]

Strongly in favour of preserving the endangered Bornholmsk dialect, Borrinjaland has gone as far as to translate the New Testament to the local language. Commenting on his views regarding Bornholmsk, he stated: "Today, it is almost forbidden to talk Bornholmsk in kindergartens and schools on the island. Denmark, with its pure dictatorship, has made sure of this for many years. I think it's scandalous. Therefore, we must make sure that the children learn the language, so that they can at least choose for themselves whether they want to speak Bornholm or not"{{cite news |last=Krak|first=Nikolaj|date=23 December 2011|title=Bibelinj ee auersat tee ded bornholmska sprog|url=http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/kirke-tro/bibelinj-ee-auersat-tee-ded-bornholmska-sprog|language=Danish|newspaper=Kristeligt Dagblad|location=Copenhagen, Denmark|accessdate=28 October 2014}} Borrinjaland was also purportedly behind the launch of the flag of Bornholm, a red and green Nordic Cross flag designed by a local painter and published in a local newspaper in 1975. The party supports independence so that a Bornholmsk government can support the Bornholmsk dialect, however, the party has also voiced its support for an autonomous government, like the Faroe Islands. To this end, one of the party's policies is the mandatory education in Bornholmsk up until the 7th grade.{{cite web |last1=Marschner |first1=Jakob |title=Mærkesager er lagt på hylden: Tonny Borrinjaland stiller op til valg for DF |url=https://tidende.dk/bornholm/maerkesager-er-lagt-paa-hylden-tonny-borrinjaland-stiller-op-til-valg-for-df/112486 |website=tidende.dk |access-date=13 March 2025}}

The party seeks to increase the number of municipalities on the island from one to three. The party also seeks to turn Bornholm into a duty free zone.

The party is staunchly in support of the island's fishing industry, which had been its historical backbone. In the 1970s the waters around Bornholm where over fished resulting in a collapse of the industry. The party opposed the construction of a nuclear waste depot on Bornholm in 2013.{{cite web |last1=Nielsen |first1=Stine Bram |title=Selvstyre skal frelse øen fra atomaffald |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/regionale/bornholm/selvstyre-skal-frelse-oeen-fra-atomaffald |website=DR |access-date=13 March 2025}}

{{portal|Denmark}}

• Danish Realm
• Faroese independence movement
• Greenlandic independence
• Icelandic independence movement
• Scania Party

{{reflist}}

Category:Bornholm

Category:Pro-independence parties

Category:Regionalist parties

Category:Separatism in Denmark

Category:Secessionist organizations in Europe

Category:Local political parties in Denmark

Category:Political parties with year of establishment missing

Category:Political parties of minorities in Denmark