We Are Family (Slovakia)

We Are Family (Slovak: Sme rodina) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Slovakia founded in 2011. It is led by businessman Boris Kollár who was Speaker of the National Council from 2020 to 2023.

We Are Family Sme rodina
Abbreviation	Sme Rodina
Leader	Boris Kollár
Presidium	Petra Krištúfková Jozef Lukáč Peter Pčolinský Jozef Vašuta
Parliamentary leader	Peter Pčolinský
Founder	Boris Kollár
Founded	2011[1]
Headquarters	Leškova 5, Bratislava. 81104[1]
Youth wing	The Young Help
Membership (2021)	1,309[2]
Ideology	National conservatism[3] Right-wing populism[4][5]
Political position	Right-wing[6][3] to far-right[7][8]
European affiliation	Identity and Democracy Party (until 2023)
Colours	Blue and red
Slogan	"We are normal" (2023)
National Council	0 / 150
European Parliament	0 / 15
Regional governors[9]	0 / 8
Regional deputies[a][9]	55 / 419
Mayors[a][9]	135 / 2,904
Local councillors[a][9]	539 / 20,462
Website
hnutie-smerodina.sk
Politics of Slovakia Political parties Elections Also with coalitions

It won seats the National Council in the 2016 and 2020 parliamentary elections, serving in the opposition from 2016 to 2020 and as the junior government party from 2020 to 2023. It did not win any seats in the 2019 European Parliament election. It was a member of the Eurosceptic Identity and Democracy, which is an alliance of political parties in Europe.

History

Former party logo

The party was originally registered in 6 July 2011 as Party of Citizens of Slovakia (Strana občanov Slovenska).^[1] In November 2015 the party was taken over by Boris Kollár, who renamed it "We Are Family – Boris Kollár" (Sme Rodina - Boris Kollár).^[10][1] The party received 7% of the vote in the 2016 parliamentary election, winning 11 seats in the National Council.^[11][12] The party joined the pan-Europe Identity and Democracy Party in February 2019, after which dropping Boris Kollár from its name the same year in November.^[1]

In the 2023 parliamentary elections, We Are Family received 2% of the vote and lost all of its seats in the National Council.

Election results

National Council

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Rank	Seats	+/–	Status
2016	Boris Kollár	172,860	6.62	6th	11 / 150	New	Opposition
2020		237,531	8.24	3rd	17 / 150	6	Coalition government
2023		65,673	2.21	11th	0 / 150	17	Extra-parliamentary

European Parliament

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Rank	Seats	+/–	Group
2019	Peter Pčolinský	31,840	3.23	10th	0 / 14

President

Election	Candidate	First round			Second round
		Votes	%	Rank	Votes	%	Rank
2019	Milan Krajniak	59,464	2.77	7th

References

1. "Register of Political Parties and Political Movements". Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
2. "Výročná správa politickej strany: Sme Rodina" (PDF). Ministry of the Interior (Slovakia) (in Slovak). 2021. p. 7.
3. Bela, Ambrus (4 March 2020). "Slovacia devine patria anticorupției". Q Magazine (in Romanian). Retrieved 23 August 2022.
4. Kneuer, Marianne (2017). "Slovakia Report: Sustainable Governance Indicators 2017" (PDF). Bertelsmann Stiftung.
5. "Týždeň vo svetových médiách: Kollár je pravicový populista a odporca EÚ". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 19 May 2019.
6. "A political earthquake in Slovakia". Centre for Eastern Studies. 3 September 2016.
7. "2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia – European Sources Online".
8. Rettman, Andrew (2 March 2020). "Slovakia kicks out centre-left rulers". EU Observer. Brussels. Retrieved 3 September 2023. Matovic might need the support of the far-right Sme Rodina party
9. "Súhrnné výsledky hlasovania" (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
10. "Businessman Boris Kollár launches his political party". The Slovak Spectator. Petit Press. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
11. "The Election to the NRSR 2016". volbysr.sk. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016.
12. "Post-election: Possible combinations after Slovak election". The Slovak Spectator. Petit Press. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2024.