Venetian Independence
Venetian Independence (, , IV) is a Venetist, liberal and, to some extent, libertarian political party active in Veneto. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum. IV, which functions also as an advocacy group, counts a handful of municipal councillors and has not been represented yet in the Regional Council of Veneto. The party was formed in May 2012 as a split from Veneto State (VS) and several members of IV are former affiliates of the Venetian National Party (PNV). The party's most recognisable member is Alessio Morosin (a former regional councillor of the LV–LN), but its formal leaders have been Michele Favero, Massimo Vidori, Juri De Luca and Michele Favero. History Background and foundation In September 2010 a joint Venetist-separatist party named Veneto State (VS) was formed mainly by the merger of the Venetian National Party (PNV) with the Party of the Venetians (PdV). Lodovico Pizzati, president of the PNV, was elected at the head of the new party. In less than a year, however, the two groups became more and more uncomfortable with each other and, at a congress in October 2011, Pizzati was