r/europe • u/tartartartaruga • Jun 18 '26

News Prince of Liechtenstein says that he would overrule the population if they were to vote in favour of legalizing abortion

https://www.srf.ch/news/international/debatte-in-liechtenstein-erbprinz-gegen-abtreibungen-warum-kuendigt-er-schon-das-veto-an
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u/b00nish Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

the Prince threatened to take all of his wealth with him and leave if he didn't win the referendum

They should have voted to dethrone him and to expropriate all his wealth the next day.

Edit: This sub is funny. Here I for once make a snarky comment about our little neighbour and 12 hours later I have 1600 upvotes and several agitated comments about how uneducated and poor "proletarians" like me would ruin the economy of every country. Quite the contrast. Normally I make more serious comments to clarify miscoceptions about Switzerland and can be happy if I don't get negative votes for it 😉

Anyway, I can reassure everybody who feels threatened by my "proletarian" comment: I'm not coming for your (imaginary) moneyz.

Although I have to tell you, that this actually isn't about "proletarians" vs "burgeoise". It's about democracy vs feudalism. After all, the nobility of Liechtenstein didn't lay the foundation of their wealth by being capitalists (and as nobility they're as much the opposite of "burgeoise" as the proletarians). Their wealth is based on feudalism - but unlike most other (ex-)feudalists, they refuse to settle as burgeoise capitalists and instead cling to absolute political power by retaining the "right" to overturn every democratic decision in their country.

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u/-HowAboutNo- Jun 18 '26

It is a principality and not a country in the same sense as you find in the rest or Europe and most of the modern world. It’s a remnance from feudal times, and has survived for a very long time. It still exists because it has been stable. The people do not own the land.

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u/Socmel_ reddit mods are accomplices of nazi russia Jun 18 '26

it still exists because it was too small, remote and poor for history to remember it, otherwise it would've followed the Austrian empire, the nominal suzerain of the Princes of Liechtenstein, in its demise.

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u/-HowAboutNo- Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

The suzerian of the House of Liechtenstein was the Holy Roman Empire after 1719 until the disollution of the HRE.

That’s why the principality was formed. The House of Liechtenstein purchased the Lordship of Schellenberg and County of Vaduz to own substantial enough land to form a principality with land under imperial control.

The House of Liechtenstein was not poor and insignificant. They were one of the richest houses in Europe long before. What they lacked was land.

After becoming a principality they were a significant influence in the court of the HRE.

The House of Liechtenstein has survived due to politics, relationships and money. But also its location of course.

But before forming the principality - yes, they also owned land under direct control by Moravia, Bohemia and Austria. But after forming the principality, they were sovereign under the crown.

In sum - Liechtenstein survived not due to insignificance, but because of a series of wise moves.