UNPO-Application in The Hague
The registered Austrian political party Minority List of Austria – Danube Federation has submitted an application to the Secretariat and the Bureau of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples' Organization (UNPO). The aim of this application is to be admitted to the UNPO as a Peoples' Friend. The Peoples' Friend membership category is roughly equivalent to the status of an Observer Member. In the long term, the Minority List of Austria – Danube Federation also aspires to full membership. The UNPO was founded in 1991 in the Peace Palace in The Hague, which also houses the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the Hague Academy of International Law. The UNPO gives a voice to unrecognized or partially recognized states, as well as occupied states, autonomous regions, independence movements and ethnic minorities who have no voice at the UN.
However, the UNPO also collaborates with the Council of Europe and the UN. It has happened several times that UN members have managed to achieve independence and international diplomatic recognition. Among the former UNPO members to which this applies are, for example, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Armenia, Palau, and Timor-Leste. Bougainville, another former member of the UNPO, is on the verge of gaining its independence. The Republic of Somaliland is a member of the UNPO, a de facto independent state since 1991 with friendly relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan), and has been diplomatically recognized by a UN member state since December 26, 2026. Guam and Washington D.C., two territories of the United States of America, are also members of the UNPO. Both Guam and Washington D.C. have neither voting representation in Congress nor the right to vote in US presidential elections under the US political system, which favors states and disadvantages other territories. And of course, the Tibetan government-in-exile is a founding member of the UNPO. Tibet has a special relationship with one of our closest allies, the Republic of Užupis, as His Holiness The Dalai Lama is an honorary citizen of the Republic of Užupis.
The Republic of Somaliland and the Republic of Annobón, another member of the UNPO, have already had informal diplomatic contacts with the Free Republic of Liberland, with which we also maintain informal diplomatic contacts from time to time (for example, a meeting with the President in August 2025 at the Liberland Ark Village in Apatin, Serbia). We are indirectly connected to the UNPO members Catalonia and Brittany. Our Catalan sister party, Pirates de Catalunya, clearly belongs to the pro-independence camp in Catalonia. And a member of our federal executive committee is a lifetime member of the Cornish Autonomy Movement (Mebyon Kernow), which in turn is closely linked to the autonomy and independence movements, especially those of other Celtic nations, such as Brittany. While we ourselves have not yet had the honor of direct contact with members of the UNPO, there have been and still are multiple points of contact through mutual acquaintances, friends and allies.
We, the Minority List of Austria - Danube Federation, as representatives of the autochthonous minorities of Austria, especially the Czech minority, sincerely hope that we will be accepted by the UNPO as Peoples' Friends.
