Union of Poles of Romania

{{redirect|Dom Polski|the Polish Club in Adelaide|Dom Polski Centre}}

{{use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}

{{Infobox political party

| name = Union of Poles of Romania

| native_name = Uniunea Polonezilor din Romania
Związek Polaków w Rumunii "Dom Polski"

| colorcode = {{party color|Union of Poles of Romania}}

| foundation = 16 March 1990

| headquarters = Str. Ioan Vodă Viteazu nr. 5, Suceava, Suceava County, Romania

| ideology = Polish minority interests

| national = National Minorities Parliamentary Group

| seats1_title = Chamber of Deputies

| seats1 = {{Composition bar|1|330|{{party color|Union of Poles of Romania}}}}

| seats2_title = Senate

| seats2 = {{Composition bar|0|136}}

| seats3_title = European Parliament

| seats3 = {{Composition bar|0|33}}

| country = Romania

| website = {{url|http://dompolski.ro/}}

}}

{{Politics of Romania}}

The Union of Poles of Romania ({{langx|ro|Uniunea Polonezilor din Romania}}, UPR; {{langx|pl|Związek Polaków w Rumunii "Dom Polski"}}), or Dom Polski, is an ethnic minority political party in Romania representing the Polish community.

History

The UPR was registered on 16 March 1990.[http://dompolski.ro/pl/o-nas/o-nas/ About Us] Union of Poles of Romania Xenia Grabska-Stoica was the first president of the union, and Andrei Răuță and Mihai Rainer were the deputy-presidents; Antoni Rojowski was the first chairman.{{Citation | url=http://dompolski.ro/evenimente/25-de-ani-de-existenta-a-uniunii-polonezilor-din-romania-suceava/| title=25 de ani de existență a Uniunii Polonezilor din România| newspaper=Dompolski.ro| access-date=March 11, 2020}} The party contested the May 1990 general elections, and despite receiving only 2,372 votes (0.02%),[http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/indexElections.asp?country=ROMANIA&election=ro90cd 1990 Parliamentary Elections: Chamber of Deputies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205171131/http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/indexElections.asp?country=ROMANIA&election=ro90cd |date=February 5, 2012 }} University of Essex it won a single seat in the Chamber of Deputies (taken by Antoni Linzmeier) under the electoral law that allows for political parties representing ethnic minority groups to be exempt from the electoral threshold.

At the party congress held in Suceava on 13 and 14 April 1991, Rojowski was re-elected president, serving until 1994. The headquarters of the organisation were moved to Suceava shortly afterwards. Antoni Rojowski was president until 1994. Iohan-Peter Babiaș served as president from 1994 until 2002. He was succeeded by Ghervazen Longher. In 2013, after hiring his brother and sister to his parliamentary office, Longher was convicted. In the 2016 elections Victoria Longher, the wife of Ghervazen, was elected to parliament on as the party's representative.{{Citation | url=https://www.gandul.ro/politica/parlamentar-din-tata-n-fiu-cine-sunt-deputatii-care-si-au-lasat-mostenire-mandatul-in-familie-16034974| title=Parlamentar din tată-n fiu. Cine sunt deputații care și-au lăsat moștenire mandatul în familie - Gândul| newspaper=Gândul| access-date=March 11, 2020}}

Structure

The Union of Poles of Romania is the only Polish organisation in Romania. The Union operates mainly for the purpose of preserving traditions, teaching the Polish language, maintaining relations with Poland and protecting Polish communities in Romania. The organisation has 15 local associations, in Bucharest, Constanța, Craiova, Iași, Suceava, Siret, Rădăuți, Vicșani, Solonețu Nou, Cacica, {{ill|Pleșa, Suceava|ro|lt=Pleșa}}, Poiana Micului, Păltinoasa, Gura Humorului, and Moara. The headquarters of the Union leadership is located in the Polish House in Suceava, built between 1903 and 1907 and regained by the community in 1996.

Electoral history

class=wikitable style=text-align:right

!rowspan=2|Election

!colspan=3|Chamber of Deputies

!colspan=3|Senate

Votes

!%

!Seats

!Votes

!%

!Seats

align=center|19902,3720.0218480.010
align=center|19923,0130.031
align=center|19961,8420.021
align=center|20005,0550.041
align=center|20045,4730.051
align=center|20087,6700.111
align=center|20128,0230.111
align=center|20163,3550.051
align=center|20203,7500.061

References

{{Reflist}}