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Far-right politics in Serbia emerged shortly before the break-up of Yugoslavia and have been present ever since. Its manifestation mostly relies on national and religious factors. In the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
, far-right politicians and groups existed but did not receive much support.
Milan Stojadinović Milan Stojadinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Стојадиновић; 4 August 1888 – 26 October 1961) was a Serbs, Serbian and Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav politician and economist who was the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from 1935 to 1939. ...
, the
prime minister of Yugoslavia The prime minister of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Премијер Југославије, Premijer Jugoslavije) was the head of government of the Yugoslav state, from the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 until the ...
from 1935 until 1939, saw
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
as an ideological role model for his premiership, while
Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the ...
, who was appointed prime minister of the
puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...
in 1941, was a supporter of fascist ideas.
Dimitrije Ljotić Dimitrije Ljotić ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Љотић; 12 August 1891 – 23 April 1945) was a Serbian and Yugoslav fascist politician and ideologue who established the Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor) in 1935 and collaborated with N ...
headed
Zbor The Yugoslav National Movement (), also known as the United Militant Labour Organization (, or Zbor / ), was a Yugoslav fascist movement and organization led by politician Dimitrije Ljotić. Founded in 1935, it received considerable German financ ...
, a minor party that was inspired by
Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...
. Ljotić cooperated with Bishop
Nikolaj Velimirović Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић;  – ) was a Serbian Orthodox prelate who served as Bishop of Ohrid and Žiča from 1920 to 1956. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orator, h ...
, who is viewed as an
antisemite Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
and a promoter of
anti-Western sentiment Anti-Western sentiment, also known as anti-Atlanticism or Westernophobia, refers to broad opposition, bias, or hostility towards the people, culture, or policies of the Western world. This sentiment is found worldwide. It often stems from ant ...
. The
Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
under
Draža Mihailović Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб "Дража" Михаиловић; 27 April 1893 – 17 July 1946) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, Chetnik Detachments ...
, who collaborated with the
Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
as early as 1941, remained an inspiration for modern far-right groups. During the break-up of Yugoslavia, the far-right re-emerged, with the
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
(SRS), led by
Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician and convicted war criminal. He is the founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a D ...
, gaining support after using sanctions, increased inflation, and a high unemployment rate to their advantage to boost their support. The SRS cooperated with
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
during the 1990s, although it also briefly served in opposition. During the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
, far-right groups committed violence and acted as
paramilitaries A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
, such as the SRS-led
White Eagles White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wavelen ...
. After the overthrow of Milošević in 2000, attacks orchestrated by the far-right rose. In parliamentary politics, the SRS won the most votes in the
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
elections, though campaigning on an anti-corruption platform. The 2010 Belgrade anti-gay riot was organised by the far-right, including groups such as Obraz. The Constitutional Court later concluded a ban on Nacionalni stroj and Obraz in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The far-right embraced
opposition to immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...
in the late 2010s, with parties and organisations such as
Dveri The Serbian Movement Dveri (), commonly just known as Dveri (), is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Serbia. Its current president since 2024 is Ivan Kostić, who succeeded Boško Obradović, one of the co-founders of ...
,
Serbian Party Oathkeepers The Serbian Party Oathkeepers (, abbr. SSZ), commonly known as just Oathkeepers, is a far-right political party in Serbia. Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski has been the party's president since 2021. Initially known as Serbian Council Oathkeep ...
, Levijatan, and People's Patrol embracing the sentiment. The
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
helped the far-right cross the
electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...
in the 2022 parliamentary election, though, in the 2023 election, they lost representation. In Serbia, the
Christian right The Christian right are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation ...
and
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
variants of the far-right exist. Far-right groups tend to be antisemitic and
Islamophobic Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...
, and they promote
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
. They also promote
anti-communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...
,
militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
, and
religious fanaticism Religious fanaticism or religious extremism is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that cou ...
. Some also have ties with the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
(SPC). The far-right often glorifies convicted war criminals like
Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...
and
Ratko Mladić Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb former military officer who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing war crimes, crim ...
, while some groups also called for the rehabilitation of collaborationists Nedić and Ljotić. The far-right has orchestrated violent protests and attacks against ethnic minorities, the
LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...
, activists, and non-governmental organisations whom they label as "foreign mercenaries". The far-right promotes anti-Westernism,
Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...
, closer ties with
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, and the return of
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
's sovereignty to Serbia. The unemployed working-class youth is often recruited by far-right groups; the far-right tends to present themselves as "patriotic" groups or as humanitarian organisations. Far-right groups are often small in number and have been institutionally marginal, though on the Internet, far-right content has received large amounts of following.


Overview


Definition

According to contemporary historian Barbara N. Wiesinger, the far-right could be divided into two groups: the first group is influenced by the
Christian right The Christian right are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation ...
,
clerical Clerical may refer to: * Pertaining to the clergy * Pertaining to a clerical worker * Clerical script, a style of Chinese calligraphy * Clerical People's Party See also

* Cleric (disambiguation) * Clerk (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
, conservatism, and
xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
, and it generally has ties with the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
(SPC). The other group is well-connected with international
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
and
white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
groups who also promote xenophobia and authoritarian views; the difference between the two groups is that the latter's views are rather centred on race. Jovo Bakić, a sociologist, noted that far-right groups also tend to be
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
and
Islamophobic Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...
. Far-right individuals also often glorify convicted war criminals such as
Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician and convicted war criminal. He is the founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a D ...
,
Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...
, and
Ratko Mladić Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb former military officer who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing war crimes, crim ...
, while some groups are also supportive of collaborationists
Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the ...
and
Dimitrije Ljotić Dimitrije Ljotić ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Љотић; 12 August 1891 – 23 April 1945) was a Serbian and Yugoslav fascist politician and ideologue who established the Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor) in 1935 and collaborated with N ...
, and call for their rehabilitation.' Far-right groups also promote
historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) scholarly views or narratives regarding a historical event, timespa ...
about these figures. The promotion of conspiracy theories is common among the far-right. Bakić also noted that far-right groups also promote a culture of "youth violence", since they regularly organise clashes with the police, or against minorities such as the
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...
, LGBT population, and
leftists Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
. He also stated that far-right groups form a perception of enemies, which commonly tend to be the West, traditional political parties, or minorities, while they regard Russia as a friend or a "brother". Far-right groups focus their ideological aims on minorities to gain public support; besides the Romani population,
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
are also a common target. This resulted in the formation of "
welfare chauvinism Welfare chauvinism or welfare state nationalism is the political notion that welfare benefits should be restricted to certain groups, particularly to the natives of a country as opposed to immigrants, or should be for the majority, excluding ...
", which portrays minorities as "undeserving". The development of welfare chauvinism in Serbia has been similar to that in other parts of Europe; they portray minorities as "undeserving" and they argue that minorities do not deserve to benefit from Serbian welfare programmes. Initially, the far-right focused on other ethnic groups in former Yugoslavia due to the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
, although they turned towards "internal enemies" after the
overthrow of Slobodan Milošević The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly ...
. At least since the late 2010s, far-right groups have also begun promoting several narratives regarding migrants due to the
European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...
, such as referring to them as enemies, and claiming that migrants are criminals or terrorists. Far-right groups regularly organise protests that are known for generating violence; they often participate in football match fights, and organised attacks against participators at
pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
s. Neo-Nazi groups are connected with
hooligan Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...
groups, while far-right groups and football fan organisations generally have joint membership. Far-right groups are also known for their
anti-Western sentiment Anti-Western sentiment, also known as anti-Atlanticism or Westernophobia, refers to broad opposition, bias, or hostility towards the people, culture, or policies of the Western world. This sentiment is found worldwide. It often stems from ant ...
and
Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...
, which they manifest through attacks against non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and activists; far-right groups usually describe them as "anti-state", "
anti-Serb Anti-Serb sentiment or Serbophobia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, србофобија, srbofobija, separator=" / ") is a generally negative view of Serbs as an ethnic group. Historically it has been a basis for the persecution of ethnic Serbs. A distinctiv ...
" or "foreign mercenaries". They are also known for assaulting human rights and
pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...
activists and NGO headquarters. According to Mörner's study, far-right groups tend to feel less close to other European nations. Far-right groups also promote the notion that Western powers advocated secessionist nationalism in the republics of SFR Yugoslavia; this was due to the positions of Western politicians that advocated for the internal borders of republics to remain unchanged. Alongside perceiving the West as an enemy, the far-right also outlined the socialist government of Yugoslavia as an enemy; they refer to it as a dictatorship and as "anti-patriots" due to the narrative that the government allegedly attempted to destroy "Serbian national and religious identity and tradition".
Anti-communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...
is also a key element of far-right groups; they tend to downplay the success of
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
by promoting historical revisionism, and attempt to discredit the progress that was achieved during the existence of SFR Yugoslavia.' Far-right groups had also openly taken part in
Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...
commemorations due to their pro-Russian views; their participation is in stark contrast to the anti-communist sentiment that is present in Serbia and other post-socialist countries. Most far-right groups espouse
militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
,
religious fanaticism Religious fanaticism or religious extremism is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that cou ...
, and
chauvinism Chauvinism ( ) is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' describes it ...
, and they support the return of
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
's sovereignty under Serbia, as well as preserving traditional and
patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
values, and opposing abortion. Regarding economics, far-right groups in Serbia tend to advocate economics that are more
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
than in other countries. In regards to religion, far-right groups formed connections with the SPC in the 1990s.


Symbolism

National symbols A national symbol is a manifestation of a nation or community, serving as a representation of their National identity, identity and values. National symbols may be not only applied to sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of ...
, such as the
Serbian cross The Serbian cross (), also known as the Firesteels (), is one of the National symbols of Serbia, national symbols of Serbia. It is present on the coat of arms of Serbia, coat of arms and flag of Serbia. The cross is based on a tetragrammic cross e ...
and
Serbian eagle The Serbian eagle () is a double-headed heraldic eagle, also known as the White eagle (), a common symbol in the history of Serbian heraldry and vexillology. The double-headed eagle and the Serbian cross are the main heraldic symbols which rep ...
, had been adopted by far-right groups. In the case of the cross, far-right groups often use two different variants; the first one is silver-coloured, while the other one is red-coloured.' Other groups also use the
Russian cross A Russian cross, also known as a death cross, is the name of a demographic trend that occurred in Russia and many other countries of the former Warsaw Pact. In Russia, starting in 1988, birth rates among native Russians (as well as most other ...
as their symbol, while Obraz and Serbian Action use the
Christogram A Christogram () is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbolism, religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the C ...
as a "Christian Orthodox-patriotic" symbol.' The Serbian tricolour is widely used by far-right organisations.' Far-right groups also frequently use chants such as "Serbia to the Serbs" (). They also use pejorative terms for minority groups in Serbia. During the Yugoslav Wars,
turbo-folk Turbo-folk is a subgenre of contemporary South Slavs, South Slavic pop music that initially developed in Serbia during the 1990s as a fusion of techno and folk music, folk. The term was an invention of the Montenegro, Montenegrin singer Rambo ...
music was used to promote nationalist and revisionist viewpoints. Notably, Serbia Strong, a song that lauded the actions of Serb military personnel such as war criminal Radovan Karadžić, and boasted about ethnic cleansing against Croats and Bosniaks, later became an
internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...
where it was alternatively titled "Remove Kebab", and attracted further attention when it was played by Brenton Tarrant before instigating the
Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...
.
Beogradski Sindikat Beogradski Sindikat (Serbian Cyrillic: Београдски Синдикат, English: ''Belgrade Syndicate'') is a Serbian Hip hop music, hip-hop collective from Belgrade, Serbia. Beogradski Sindikat is one of the pioneers of the second wave ...
(BS), a
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
collective, promoted conservative and far-right views through music.
Škabo Boško Ćirković (Serbian Cyrillic:Бошко Ћирковић; born 4 December 1976) better known as Škabo (Serbian Cyrillic: Шкабо) is a rapper, beatmaker and producer from Belgrade, Serbia. He has released three albums as a member of Beo ...
, a prominent member of BS, used to associate himself with
Dveri The Serbian Movement Dveri (), commonly just known as Dveri (), is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Serbia. Its current president since 2024 is Ivan Kostić, who succeeded Boško Obradović, one of the co-founders of ...
, while Aleksandar Protić headed the
Third Serbia Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...
political party, which was formed out of Dveri. A clothing brand named ''Otadžbina'' depicts neo-Nazi imagery and is used by football fans in Serbia.


Influence

Far-right groups recruit working-class youth who are usually unemployed and generally uneducated. The youth developed strong public political opinions against the West,
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
, and Western democracy due to the Yugoslav Wars and sanctions. According to authors Denoeux and Carter, in 2009 they stated that socio-economic, political, and cultural issues tend to radicalise the population. Far-right groups present themselves as "patriotic" groups or
humanitarian organisation An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizatio ...
s, while neo-Nazi groups tend to present themselves as "radical nationalists" by making covert or overt use of
Nazi symbolism The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very ...
.' Far-right groups stayed small in number; according to Džombić, about 30 far-right groups were active with about 5,000 members in 2011. As of 2018, far-right groups remain institutionally marginal, although their public influence is at a higher rate. According to Bojan Klačar, the executive director of CeSID, contemporary far-right groups do not pose a threat unless they receive a large amount of support, while the political articulation of the groups us too weak to make an impact on the institutions. Clerical-fascist groups had been considered to be more politically influential and organised than neo-Nazi groups. Far-right groups are centred on using the Internet, while far-right individuals have also published magazines and books. Stormfront, a neo-Nazi Internet forum, was established in the early 2000s in Serbia. Groups are also centred on using social networks such as Facebook,
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
and
Signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...
, as well as
alt-tech Alt-tech is a collection of social networking services and Internet service providers popular among the alt-right, far-right, and others who espouse extremism or fringe theories, typically because they employ looser content moderation than m ...
such as
Parler Parler (pronounced "parlor") is an American alt-tech social networking service associated with conservatives. Launched in August 2018, Parler marketed itself as a free speech-focused and unbiased alternative to mainstream social networks s ...
. Far-right Facebook pages and groups in Serbia had received large amounts of following. Anti-immigrant activists had also formed a number of pages; this includes Generation Identity, which also has branches in other countries. Followers of the far-right European Solidarity Front for Syria (ESFS) page had attended the first major anti-immigrant protest in Serbia in 2016. Regarding the media, they had stayed neutral regarding the migrant issue; they had reported incidents in which they participated, as well as the problems that they experienced. Publications such as ''
Glas javnosti ''Glas javnosti'' (Глас јавности, meaning "Voice of the Public") was a daily newspaper published in Belgrade. After publishing a newspaper from April 1998 until January 2010, the people behind the project have since then run an online ...
'', ''
Večernje novosti ''Večernje novosti'' ( sr-Cyrl, Вечерње новости; ''Evening News'') is a Serbian daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1953, it quickly grew into a high-circulation daily. ''Novosti'' (as most people call it for short) also employs ...
'', ''
Kurir ''Kurir'' is daily tabloid newspaper published in Belgrade, Serbia. History The first issue of ''Kurir'' appeared at newsstands on 6 May 2003. While Kurir's history is relatively short, it is also a checkered one. It goes back to the state of ...
'', ''
Alo! ''Alo!'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Belgrade, Serbia. History Launched by Ringier AG (owners of another Serbian daily '' Blic'') on October 15, 2007, ''Alo!'' attempts to establish itself on the saturated Serbian daily tabloid ...
'', and ''Pravda'' were associated with the far-right according to 2010 and 2011 reports of Ramet and Stakić. Far-right groups had also attacked publications that were viewed as more liberal.' Local media in Serbia also tend to promote "Russian-friendly" news stories or anti-Western narratives; websites were found to be spreading the idea of ethnic purification or neo-Nazism. It was also found out that website owners also tend to have connections with Russian state-controlled agencies such as RT and
Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...
.
Jim Dowson James Dowson (born ) is a British far-right political activist, Christian nationalist and Ulster loyalist, active in Northern Ireland. Originally from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, he has been active across the United Kingdom, Europe ...
, a British far-right activist, and his Knights Templar International organisation had supplied bullet-proof vests and radios to Serbian groups in Kosovo. Dowson had regularly accompanied
Aleksandr Dugin Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin (; born 7 January 1962) is a Russian far-right political philosopher. He is the leading theorist of Russian neo-Eurasianism. Born into a military intelligence family, Dugin was an anti-communist dissident during the ...
and former
British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...
leader
Nick Griffin Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British far-right politician who was chairman of the British National Party (BNP) from 1999 to 2014, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2009 to 2014. Follow ...
in Serbia. In late 2017, far-right groups threatened to murder
Marinika Tepić Marinika Tepić (;, ; , born 8 August 1974) is a Serbian politician. She is a vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) and a prominent opponent of President of Serbia, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and the governing Serbi ...
, an opposition politician, after criticising Jim Dowson's visits to Serbia. Robert Rundo, the co-founder of the white supremacist
Rise Above Movement The Rise Above Movement (RAM) was a militant alt-right Southern California-based street fighting group which has variously been described as "a loose collective of violent neo-Nazis and fascists", white nationalists, white supremacists, and far-r ...
(RAM), had appeared and recorded videos in Serbia throughout 2020. Russia had also solidified its presence in Serbian politics through connections with far-right parties; it had also asserted itself as a "protector of
traditional values Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited natural laws to which it is claimed ...
" and an alternative to the West. Sources claim that between 100 and 300 Serb "foreign fighters" joined the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
on the side of Russia;'
Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
, the
president of Serbia The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...
, claimed that the foreign fighters were mercenaries, while others stated that they were motivated by a sense of "nationalist solidarity". Some had received media attention, such as Dejan Berić.' Some Serb foreign fighters had even joined pro-Russian paramilitary groups in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
.' The Serbian far-right made a major impact on domestic terrorists such as
Anders Behring Breivik Anders Behring Breivik (; born 13 February 1979), officially named Fjotolf Hansen from 2017 to 2025, and Far Skaldigrimmr Rauskjoldr av Northriki since March 2025, is a Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist and mass murderer. He carried out the 2011 No ...
and Brenton Tarrant. Far-right groups in Serbia had also followed the trend of the global far-right such as showing
populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
tendencies and representing themselves as the protectors of the "people" and "free speech". The growth of global far-right views, such as anti-immigrant views, had also spread in Serbia. Although the socio-economic situation of individuals, insufficient trust in institutions, and the inconsistent attitude of the state towards the far-right had also influenced the rise of anti-immigration.


History


Yugoslavia

Following
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...
was established. The state was composed of multiple ethnic groups, with the
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
being the most populous group. It was initially a liberal
parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...
, although in 1929,
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...
imposed a
dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
that lasted until 1934, and renamed the state to Yugoslavia. Alexander I's regime was described as "conservative authoritarian". During the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, fascists and advocates of other far-right political movements in Yugoslavia received little support and some of them were even repressed by Alexander I's regime. The display of antisemitism in Yugoslavia was also rare. The post-World War I
Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
were ideologically divided; some of them believed that Yugoslavia should be governed in accordance with Serbian traditions and that the other two major ethnic groups,
Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
and
Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...
, should be assimilated, while others believed that a new Yugoslav national identity should be developed. Its members were also divided between the Democratic Party (DS), which favoured an all-Yugoslav identity, and the
People's Radical Party The People's Radical Party (, abbr. NRS) was a populist political party in Serbia and later Yugoslavia. Led by Nikola Pašić for most of its existence, its ideological profile has significantly changed throughout its history, shifting from ...
(NRS) which favoured a Greater Serbian identity. Chetniks later developed into " parafascists" and adopted anti-liberal and anti-democratic views, while maintaining nationalist traditions. Members of the National Defence (), a militaristic association, usually sided with Chetniks in conflicts. National Defence adopted fascism in the mid-1920s and became sceptical about the parliamentary system. It had also opposed
internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectura ...
and promoted the cultural unity of South Slavs.
Velibor Jonić Velibor Jonić ( sr-Cyrl, Велибор Јонић; 12 February 1892 – 17 July 1946) was a Serbian fascist politician and government minister in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia during World War II. He taught at the Military ...
, a Serbian fascist politician, was a member of the National Defence. Following the assassination of Alexander I,
Milan Stojadinović Milan Stojadinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Стојадиновић; 4 August 1888 – 26 October 1961) was a Serbs, Serbian and Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav politician and economist who was the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from 1935 to 1939. ...
and his
Yugoslav Radical Union The Yugoslav Radical Union ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенска радикална заједница; ; ; abbreviated JRZ) was the ruling far-right party of Yugoslavia from 1934 until 1939. The party, whose agenda was based on fascism, was the ...
(JRZ) came to power. JRZ acted as an all-Yugoslav party, and its members consisted of all three major ethnic groups. Stojadinović ruled as an authoritarian and imposed anti-democratic acts, while he had also seen fascism as an ideological role model, and adopted centralism during his premiership. Stojadinović was dismissed in 1939 and was replaced by
Dragiša Cvetković Dragiša Cvetković ( sr-cyr, Драгиша Цветковић; 15 January 1893 – 18 February 1969) was a Yugoslav politician active in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1939 to 1941 ...
. Dimitrije Ljotić, a Yugoslav Serb politician, who formed the
Yugoslav National Movement The Yugoslav National Movement (), also known as the United Militant Labour Organization (, or Zbor / ), was a Yugoslav fascist movement and organization led by politician Dimitrije Ljotić. Founded in 1935, it received considerable German financ ...
(JNP Zbor), sought to introduce radical right and fascist policies. Zbor supported the creation of a corporative authoritarian regime, while it was also inspired by
Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...
, anti-communism, and antisemitism. Ljotić cooperated with Bishop
Nikolaj Velimirović Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић;  – ) was a Serbian Orthodox prelate who served as Bishop of Ohrid and Žiča from 1920 to 1956. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orator, h ...
, who was an antisemite and promoted anti-Western views; he had made an impact on Ljotić during the late interwar period.' A chunk of its members had also left the party to join JRZ during Stojadinović's premiership. Zbor mainly received support from Serbs, and it remained a minor party after it received 1% of the popular vote in 1935 and 1938 elections. After the beginning of World War II, the government of Yugoslavia adopted anti-Jewish laws.
Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the ...
was appointed prime minister of the puppet government in 1941; he was a supporter of fascist and ultranationalist policies. During his premiership, Nedić also promoted
conspiracy theories about Jews Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of J ...
.
Kosta Pećanac Konstantin "Kosta" Milovanović Pećanac ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коста" Миловановић Пећанац; 1879–1944) was a Serbian and Yugoslav Chetnik commander ('' vojvoda'') during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World ...
, who headed Chetnik units in the 1930s, embraced chauvinism and led his group of Chetniks into allegiance with Nedić's government. Chetniks under
Draža Mihailović Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб "Дража" Михаиловић; 27 April 1893 – 17 July 1946) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, Chetnik Detachments ...
began collaborating with the
Axis Forces The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
as early as 1941. Mihailović denied that he collaborated with the Axis forces, although in 1943 he admitted it in a conversation with a British liaison officer. After 1943, Mihailović collaborated with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
on an informal basis. The Chetniks during World War II were royalist and nationalist, while their main objective was the creation of a Greater Serb state within Yugoslavia. Chetniks also favoured
population transfer Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration that is often imposed by a state policy or international authority. Such mass migrations are most frequently spurred on the basis of ethnicity or religion, but they also occur d ...
. After World War II, the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...
(KPJ), later known as the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ), came to power and reformed the state as the
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
.
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
led Yugoslavia until his death in 1980, and shortly after his death, local branches of the SKJ began promoting ethno-nationalist rhetoric, including the
League of Communists of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Serbia, political party of Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbia from 19 ...
(SKS). The leadership of SKS was replaced by a more conservative one that argued for more nationalist views. The
early 1980s recession The early 1980s recession was a severe economic recession that affected much of the world between approximately the start of 1980 and 1982. Long-term effects of the early 1980s recession contributed to the Latin American debt crisis, long-lastin ...
had an impact on Yugoslavia, the crisis was exploited by ethnic nationalists to capture power. Also, in the 1980s, a number of
paramilitaries A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
began forming in Kosovo. The
SANU Memorandum The Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, known simply as the SANU Memorandum ( sr-Cyrl, Меморандум САНУ), was a draft document produced by a 16-member committee of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) fr ...
, which was leaked in 1986, made an impact on the far-right politics in Serbia; the document combined xenophobic nationalist views with conservative socialism, and it argued for the establishment of Greater Serbia.
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
, who held conservative, communist, and anti-liberal views, supported the memorandum and used it to rise to power. Milošević garnered support to remove
Ivan Stambolić Ivan Stambolić (; 5 November 1936 – 25 August 2000) was a Serbian politician who served as the president of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) from 1984 to 1986. A prominent member of SKS, he also served as prime minister of Serbia from ...
, who opposed the memorandum, at the 8th Session of the SKS Central Committee and later organised a campaign of street protests, named the anti-bureaucratic revolution. This served as a resurgence of the far-right.


1990s–2000s

Following the
revolutions of 1989 The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Communist state, Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts ...
, the far-right emerged again to the mainstream. Far-right groups brought extreme nationalism as well as support for the establishment of
Greater Serbia The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia () describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group, inclu ...
, while at the same time, they also gained broader acceptance due to Serbia's position in the Yugoslav Wars. After being sanctioned and following the increased inflation and high unemployment rate, xenophobia saw an increase during Serbia's period of
isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...
. Nationalists, such as the
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
(SRS), exploited this to garner broader support among the public. They promoted historical revisionism, which had been on the rise since the 1970s, and portrayed other Yugoslav ethnic groups as "betrayers", which formed the narrative of victimhood. The SRS closely cooperated with Milošević's
Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a populist political party in Serbia. Ivica Dačić has led SPS as its president since 2006. SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the League of Communists of Serbia and Socialist Alliance ...
(SPS) during the 1990s, although it also briefly served in opposition. The
Serbian Renewal Movement The Serbian Renewal Movement (, abbr. SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1990 by writer Vuk Drašković, who served as the party's president until 2024. Aleksandar Cvetković is the incumbent leader. ...
(SPO), a major opposition party during the 1990s, had also promoted extremist nationalism, although it abandoned the ideology following the beginning of the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
. Milošević, although declaratively a leftist, had connections with the far-right and promoted extreme-nationalist and anti-Western sentiment; he also promoted antisemitic and racist conspiracy theories. Many far-right organisations acted as paramilitary organisations and openly supported and committed violence during the Bosnian and
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
wars. The
White Eagles White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wavelen ...
, a paramilitary unit operated by SRS and its leader Vojislav Šešelj, committed
war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
s in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
, and Bosnia and Hezegovina. Its members were also referred to as "chetniks". According to a United Nations report from 1994, 55 out of 82 paramilitaries in former Yugoslavia were led by Serbs. According to the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
, far-right groups criticised the United States during the Kosovo War, including foreign individuals such as white nationalist
Louis Beam Louis Ray Beam Jr. (born August 20, 1946) is an American white supremacist. After high school, he joined the United States Army and served as a helicopter door-gunner in Vietnam. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Once he returned to ...
, while neo-Nazis had done it because "they saw Muslims as a threat to Europe". After the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
in 1999 and up until the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in October 2000, far-right conspiracy theories were spread, while critics of the government were assassinated. Journalist
Slavko Ćuruvija Slavko Ćuruvija ( sr-Cyrl, Славко Ћурувија, ; 9 August 1949 – 11 April 1999) was a Yugoslav and Serbian journalist, newspaper publisher. His murder on 11 April 1999 in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia provoked international outrage and wi ...
was assassinated in 1999, while former president of Serbia, Ivan Stambolić, was assassinated in August 2000; an
assassination attempt This is a list of survivors of assassination attempts. For successful assassination attempts, see List of assassinations. Non-heads of state Heads of state and government Gallery File:Arrestation Gregori.jpg, Arrest of Louis Gregori, th ...
on
Vuk Drašković Vuk Drašković ( sr-cyrl, Вук Драшковић, ; born 29 November 1946) is a Serbian writer and politician. He is the co-founder and former leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, serving as president from 1990 to 2024. He also served as th ...
, the leader of SPO, also occurred in October 1999. Far-right groups in Serbia gained a considerable amount of public attention in the early 2000s, although after the election of
Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until Assassination of Zoran Đinđić, ...
as
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
it was seen that the development of far-right ideas would become less conducive. Far-right groups had also turned into registered movements and organisations. During June 2001, far-right groups orchestrated violent attacks on the participants of the first pride parade in Serbia; the parade was cancelled half-way through. After Đinđić's assassination in 2003, far-right groups emerged again. According to Jovo Bakić, this rise occurred due to the promised social development and
European Union accession European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
which were not feasible, including the wave of privatisation that left vast numbers of people unemployed. These organisations were also often in opposition to each other, although they had common ideological motives. Since the 2000s, attacks orchestrated by far-right groups have risen. These attacks had often received media attention, although far-right groups did not attract much attention from the public. Due to the allegations that the government was involved in corrupt privatisation, SRS ran on an anti-corruption platform and placed first in the 2003 parliamentary election. SRS did not take part in forming a government. Věra Stojarová, a
Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) (; ) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno, it now consists of ten faculties and 35,115 students. It is named after To ...
professor, pointed out that the high number of votes for SRS showed the "high frustration of Serbs". In 2004, a law that defined the Chetniks as "anti-fascist" was welcomed by parties on the right. A year later, Chetniks were de facto equalised with the Yugoslav Partisans following the implementation of the law on soldiers' pensions. SRS placed first again in the 2007 parliamentary election. Aleksandar Gavrilović, an editor for ''Istinomer'', stated that following the formation of the
Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS) in 2008, the far-right saw its support drop to bare minimums. The far-right received further expansion following the declaration of the independence of Kosovo in 2008. Later in July 2008, far-right groups organised protests in support of Radovan Karadžić, which turned out violent. In 2009, a
Belgrade Pride Belgrade Pride () is an annual pride parade held in Belgrade, Serbia to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies. The first event was held in June 2001. Since 2014, Belgrade Pride has been organized an ...
event was cancelled due to the announcement that far-right groups would prevent the holding of the event. The Public Prosecutor's Office had stated that Obraz and SNP 1389 should be banned due to their threats that led to the cancellation of the Belgrade Pride event.


Contemporary period

In October 2010, the
Belgrade anti-gay riot The Belgrade anti-gay riot was an incident of violence against LGBT people that occurred on 10 October 2010 during a pride parade, organized to promote LGBT rights in Serbia. The gay pride parade has been the first in Belgrade since 2001; a plann ...
occurred; it was marked with violence orchestrated by the far-right, which led to clashes with the police. Obraz was a notable participant in the riot. The Public Prosecutor's Office responded by submitting multiple proposals to the Constitutional Court in 2011. The Constitutional Court rejected the ban of 14 far-right groups in March, while in June, it deemed that the actions of Nacionalni stroj were unconstitutional and the Court banned them; the 2011 pride event was cancelled due to threats from far-right groups. The Constitutional Court also rejected the proposal to ban SNP 1389 and SNP Naši. Obraz was banned a year later due to "violation of human and minority rights and causing national and religious hatred", although it continued to operate under a similar name. Since then, some far-right groups have pacified their actions according to Zorić. Far-right groups had also organised protests in support of Ratko Mladić in May 2011. In the 2012 parliamentary election, for the first time since its establishment, SRS had not managed to cross the then-5 per cent
electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...
and lost all of its seats in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. According to Izabela Kisić, the executive director of the
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia ( sr-Latn, Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Srbiji) is a volunteer, non-profit organization concerned with human rights issues in Serbia. It was formed in September 1994 as one of many national ...
, the newly elected government has since practically tolerated the far-right. A year later, anti-Romani attacks in
Zemun Polje Zemun Polje () is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Zemun. Location Zemun Polje is located on both railway and highway Belgrade-Novi Sad, halfway between the western section of urban ...
were concluded by far-right groups.' Draža Mihailović, the leader of Chetniks during World War II, was rehabilitated in 2015 by the Supreme Court of Cassation, claiming that he was politically and ideologically trialed; far-right groups organised protests during the rehabilitation of Milan Nedić, although in the end, Nedić was not rehabilitated. Far-right groups had returned to the National Assembly following the 2016 parliamentary election. A far-right group belonging to the white nationalist
Identitarian movement The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a Pan-European nationalism, pan-European nationalist, Ethnic nationalism, ethno-nationalist, Far-right politics, far-right ideological movement centred on the preservation of White people, white ...
had organised protests in 2017. Although a year later, the Identitarian branch in Serbia was dissolved for unknown reasons; the branch was also linked with the promotion of discrimination. Kisić noted that
Islamic extremism Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...
had seen a significant decline, while the far-right had been on the rise in the late 2010s. The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) noted that the far-right had begun showing anti-immigrant views, which did not exist before. This initially began during the 2015 migrant crisis, although political parties such as Dveri and Enough is Enough (DJB) began advocating anti-immigrant views in 2018. The two parties explicitly promoted the
Eurabia conspiracy theory "Eurabia" (portmanteau of Europe and Arabia) is a far-right Islamophobic conspiracy theory that posits that globalist entities, led by French and Arab powers, aim to Islamize and Arabize Europe, thereby weakening its existing culture and und ...
and claimed that Serbian citizens would become a minority in their own country. Organisations, such as
Leviathan Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...
and the People's Patrol, orchestrated attacks against migrants. Its members had also begun "patrolling the streets" to intercept, threaten, warn, arrest, or expel migrants from public transport. Both groups also video-recorded their actions and shared them across social media, while they also targeted citizens who had rented apartments to migrants. Opinion polls also showed that the public shared similar anti-immigrant views with far-right organisations. According to a BCSP survey from 2020, the public viewed migrants as the greatest external threat to Serbia's security and as one of the three main threats to internal security, while three-quarters of respondents were concerned about free movement of migrants in towns and villages. In comparison with the research from 2017, in which the migrants were listed lower, the far-right had an impact on increasing anti-immigrant views among the public. In the same research, voters were also interested in knowing the positions of political parties regarding migrants. Following the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia The COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia was an outbreak of the disease COVID-19 in Serbia caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Its first case in Serbia was reported on 6 March 2020, and confirmed by Minister of Health Zlatibor Lončar. The case was a 43- ...
in 2020, conspiracy theories regarding the virus had begun to spread; the far-right had also spread these conspiracy theories. In the same year, the far-right also seen a sudden rise in popularity. Following the 2020 parliamentary election, a series of protests took place in July. The government had portrayed the protests as led by the far-right; a small group of far-right activists did participate in the protests, including former MP Srđan Nogo. In October 2021,
Facebook Inc Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...
. published a series of documents that included far-right groups in Serbia that were connected with terrorism, violence, and hate. A month later, a far-right group harassed and attacked several
peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...
groups, including ''
Women in Black Women in Black () is a women's anti-war movement with an estimated 10,000 activists around the world. The first group was formed by Israeli women in Jerusalem in 1988, following the outbreak of the First Intifada. History Responding to what ...
'', due to their opposition to denying the notion that the
Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by unit ...
was a genocide. During the same period, a conflict emerged in Belgrade, after a far-right group made a
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
dedicated to Ratko Mladić; peace activists had thrown eggs and paint at the mural to destroy it, although the groups would occasionally re-paint the mural. The conflict received national media attention, although the mural did not end up being removed. Following the beginning of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
in February 2022, far-right groups protested in support of Russia. The invasion had helped the far-right cross the electoral threshold in the
2022 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 loca ...
due to their pro-Russian views. Far-right groups had also stated their opposition to imposing sanctions on Russia. Dveri, the
Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia (, , abbr. NDSS), known as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) until 2022, is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Miloš Jovanović serves as the current president of NDSS. DSS was formed as ...
(DSS), and the
Serbian Party Oathkeepers The Serbian Party Oathkeepers (, abbr. SSZ), commonly known as just Oathkeepers, is a far-right political party in Serbia. Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski has been the party's president since 2021. Initially known as Serbian Council Oathkeep ...
(SSZ), all whom campaigned on their opposition to imposing sanctions on Russia, had entered the National Assembly. At the time of the campaign period, SSZ, SRS, and
Serbian Right The Serbian Right (, abbr. SD) is a far-right political party in Serbia. The party was founded in 2018 by Miša Vacić. The party has been accused of being a satellite of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). History Serbian Right was ...
(SD) were viewed as allegedly under the control of the government. During the 2022 EuroPride event in Belgrade, far-right groups clashed with the police. The
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network ''Balkan Insight'' is a website of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) that focuses on news, socio-political analysis, commentary, and investigative reporting from Southeastern Europe. It is run by journalists in southeast Europe. B ...
published an interactive map of far-right organisations in Western Balkans in November 2022. Regarding Serbia, they listed Chetnik organisations, Conservative Movement Naši (formerly SNP Naši), Leviathan, Carostavnik, Moto Club Serbs, Obraz, People's Patrol, Rudder, Serbian Action, SNP Zbor, Youth 451, and Zentropa Serbia as far-right organisations. A month later, during the North Kosovo crisis, ultranationalist protests were organised by the People's Patrol. In the 2023 parliamentary election, the far-right lost all of its representation. The Mirëdita, dobar dan! festival was cancelled in June 2024, due to the protests organised by far-right groups against the festival.


Political groups

According to the Anti-Discrimination Act, it is illegal for neo-Nazi or fascist groups to organise or display fascist symbols. Organisations that were banned due to their far-right views usually reorganised under a different name, while organisations that had received legal measures have either moved underground or transformed their ideological image. The
government of Serbia The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...
had declared Obraz a clerical-fascist organisation, while Nacionalni stroj, skinheads, Blood and Honour, and Rasonalisti were labelled as neo-Nazi.


Organisations


Blood and Honour

Blood & Honour () was formed in Serbia in 1995. It cooperates with its UK-based counterpart. Ideologically oriented towards
neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
, Blood & Honour has been operating as an unregistered and secret organisation in Serbia.'
Combat 18 Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then, it has spread to other countries, including Germany. C ...
is its self-described "activist branch", while Blood & Honour also has chapters in Belgrade,
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
, and Niš. The organisation has been regularly organising Concert, music concerts, it also takes part in neo-Nazi meetings abroad. Its members had meetings with the National Socialist Movement of Denmark. The organisation is opposed to abortions, capitalism, and communism.' It also claimed that Jews are enemies of the "white race" and that they were responsible for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a view that they also share with Obraz.


I live for Serbia

I Live for Serbia () is a far-right organisation that spreads Anti-vaccine activism, anti-vax and nationalist views. Its views had been described as militaristic, while it was also opposed to LGBT rights. I Live for Serbia wants to repeal the law that made vaccination mandatory and declares its support for making all non-governmental organisations illegal. Jovana Stojković, a former member of Dveri, heads the organisation.' Stojković is a prominent anti-vaccination activist; she has claimed that vaccines cause autism, while also spreading COVID-19 misinformation, misinformation regarding COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia, Stojković and her organisation opposed wearing protective masks. Due to her views, Stojković was detained several times, while the Court of the Regional Medical Chamber of Belgrade initiated a procedure to revoke her medical doctor licence in 2018. I Live for Serbia previously cooperated with the neo-fascist Leviathan Movement. They organised protests together and participated in a joint list in the 2020 parliamentary election. During the 2020 electoral campaign, I live for Serbia promoted Antifeminism, antifeminist content. Their electoral list did not pass the 3-percent threshold. I live for Serbia was later a part of the Sovereignists (Serbia), Sovereignists coalition, together with DJB and ZS. It participated in the 2022 general election but failed to win any seats. It was briefly part of the Healthy Serbia party in 2023.


Leviathan

Leviathan is a self-described animal rights group. Observers had described it as a "mix of National Front (UK), National Front and PETA". Formed in 2015, it initially got its reputation from posting confessional videos on social media, in which individuals would apologise on camera for being cruel to animals.' Individuals would continue by sharing their personal information, while Leviathan would sometimes confiscate pets from certain individuals. It had later built a large following and garnered a large number of fans. Members of Leviathan had previously been members of neo-Nazi organisations.' It has been described as a Vigilantism, vigilantist group, a group of its members were sentenced to prison for four months, with an additional 11 months under house arrest in 2020. Pavle Bihali, the leader of Leviathan, claimed that they do not use violence. A member of the group had driven into a migrant reception centre in Obrenovac in May 2020; the driver was later sentenced to eight months in prison. While driving, the driver chanted that "he does not want Serbia to become an Islamic country". Leviathan had later organised an operation against the largest animal shelter in Serbia in 2021, claiming that its owner had let its dogs die. Dejan Gačić, the owner of the animal shelter, had claimed that his animal shelter was attacked because Leviathan wanted to force him out due to the amount of foreign donations that he had received before the raid. Leviathan had also conducted personal attacks on the Internet.' Observers had described Leviathan as neo-fascist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right. Bihali identifies himself as a far-right nationalist and has expressed sympathy for Nazism; observers have also assessed him as a neo-Nazi. Bihali is a supporter of the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn (Greece), Golden Dawn organisation, and has considered the group a model for Leviathan. An anti-migrant group, members of Leviathan had taken part in "street patrols" with the People's Patrol, while they had also portrayed migrants as "rapists". Bihali had published misinformation regarding migrants. Its members had publicly expressed racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-ziganist views.' Leviathan had promoted the Great Replacement, Great Replacement conspiracy theory, while during the COVID-19 pandemic, Leviathan had spread COVID-19 misinformation, misinformation about the virus. Leviathan registered as an organisation in 2020 and participated in a joint list with I Live for Serbia in the 2020 parliamentary election, although it failed to cross the threshold. Jovo Bakić had claimed that the organisation was under the control of Aleksandar Vučić, while it been alleged that Leviathan had cooperated with SNS.


Nacionalni stroj

Nacionalni stroj () was a secret neo-Nazi organisation.' It was affiliated with Blood & Honour and the neo-Nazi Internet forum Stormfront,and was considered to be a part of the "racist international". It was alleged that Nacionalni stroj and Blood & Honour concluded the destruction of Belgrade and Niš mosques in March 2004, attacks on the ''Women in Black'' movement in July 2005, and an assault on peace activists in Niš in May 2007. Nacionalni stroj also organised several far-right marches in 2007. These acts were celebrated by the organisations as "patriotic acts". During the anti-fascist walk in October 2007, members of the organisation attacked participants and threw rocks at them. The Gendarmery (Serbia), gendarmery responded by detaining the attackers, while some of them were sentenced to be tried at the Court.' The Public Prosecutor's Office submitted a request in 2008 to ban Nacionalni stroj, which was concluded by the Constitutional Court in 2011. Its leader, Goran Davidović, nicknamed ''Führer'', participated in the attack and was put on trial for the violent attacks. He did not appear in court, and instead moved to Trieste, where he lived until 2020, when he moved back to Serbia. The trial was suspended and charges were dropped in 2019. After moving back to Serbia, Davidović met with the leaders of Obraz and Leviathan. The organisation supported the establishment of a strong Centralized government, centralised nation-state that would be headed by an authoritarian head of state who would enjoy the support of the Serbian Armed Forces, military and the Serbian Orthodox Church. Nacionalni stroj was antisemitic, and stated that only white people would be entitled to full citizenship, while homosexuality, pornography, abortion, and other religious groups should be outlawed.


National Serb Front

Formed in 2011, the National Serb Front () came to the far-right scene after the ban of Nacionalni stroj in 2011. Stefan Dolić, a former member of Nacionalni stroj, has headed the organisation since its inception.' The National Serb Front had organised meetings with several neo-Nazi parties, including the National Democratic Party of Germany and People's Party Our Slovakia. Its logo had drawn comparisons with the New Force (Italy), New Force of Italy and the Noua Dreaptă of Romania.' Members of the National Serb Front had regularly participated in far-right protests and Street fighting, street fights.' The organisation had published content dedicated to the leader of Nacionalni stroj.' In 2017, the liberal New Party (Serbia), New Party called for the ban of National Serb Front. National Serb Front is ideologically opposed to neoliberalism and advocates for a "Europe of Nations".'


Obraz

Obraz was founded in the mid-1990s by a group of students who had published a magazine under an eponymous name. Nebojša M. Krstić led the organisation until his death in 2001, after which Mladen Obradović succeeded him in 2003. Under Obradović's leadership, Obraz formed connections with far-right groups from Romania, Slovakia, France, Italy, and Spain. Since its inception, Obraz has organised violent attacks.' It played a central role in the
Belgrade anti-gay riot The Belgrade anti-gay riot was an incident of violence against LGBT people that occurred on 10 October 2010 during a pride parade, organized to promote LGBT rights in Serbia. The gay pride parade has been the first in Belgrade since 2001; a plann ...
that took place in 2010; its leader and other members were arrested a day before to stop the riot. After the parade, an additional 250 individuals were arrested.' The government of Serbia had previously submitted an initiative in regards to its operations, while in 2012, the Constitutional Court banned Obraz.' Obradović later re-registered the organisation under the name "Svetosavski savez Obraz".' Throughout its existence, Obraz only participated in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election, 2014 parliamentary election, when it was a part of a joint list with the
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
(SRS) and SNP Naši.' Obradović was a controller during the 2022 Serbian constitutional referendum, 2022 constitutional referendum. The government of Serbia listed Obraz as a clerical-fascist organisation in 2005; observers also described Obraz as clerical-fascist.' Obraz has been defined as hardline nationalist, it is also openly
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
and it opposes minority rights. The organisation had also declared that Jews, Croats, Albanians, and other minority groups in Serbia are their enemies. Throughout the 2000s, Obraz concluded a series of attacks against minority groups and homosexuals; major attacks on homosexuals occurred in 2001 and 2010. They had also called for the punishment of homosexuals and non-Orthodox religious believers. Obraz called for rehabilitation of Dimitrije Ljotić, while it had also celebrated convicted war criminals Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić as war heroes. Obraz supports the dismantling of liberal democracy, which it called a "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory, judeo-masonic tool of oppression", and argues that a Corporatism, corporative state must be established instead, and it promotes theocracy.' The organisation is opposed to Serbia joining the European Union, and calls instead for the establishment of Greater Serbia.'


People's Patrol

The People's Patrol () is a far-right anti-immigrant organisation that began its actions in 2020. It is centred in Belgrade, although it also has branches in border towns such as Sombor, Bačka Palanka, and Šid. Its members occasionally stop migrants from entering Serbia in border towns. They had also disturbed journalists at their protests. Their members had been involved in several incidents; in the fall of 2020, one of them threatened and blocked the paths of taxi drivers who were transporting migrants, while in 2021, a People's Patrol member kicked out a group of migrants out of a bus and threatened them with violence. Later in October 2021, the People's Patrol concluded attacks against a Sombor native after letting migrants sleep in his hostel. The person who operated the hostel received death threats from People's Patrol members and supporters. Multiple anti-immigrant protests were also organised by the People's Patrol, starting in March 2020. The participants had also showed nationalist and anti-vaccination sentiment. People's Patrol has been described as ultranationalist. Alongside Leviathan, the organisation had portrayed migrants as "rapists" and called for people who helped migrants to be Lynching, lynched. The People's Patrol had used the lack of trust in institutions as a reason and justification to patrol and arrest migrants, and it had also publicly criticised the Police of Serbia, police. Its leader, Damnjan Knežević, was summoned several times by the police for inciting hatred and intolerance. Knežević was a member of the SSZ, and had served as its vice-president at one point. Besides their anti-immigrant activity, its members had also launched an initiative regarding Kosovo, which was viewed as ethno-nationalist. The organisation had also promoted antifeminism and misogyny. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, People's Patrol staged several pro-Russian protests in March and April 2022. People's Patrol has connections with far-right groups in Russia that took part in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In January 2023, lawyer Čedomir Stojković accused Knežević of being a member of the Wagner Group and recruiting Serbian citizens to fight in Ukraine. According to research, supporters of the People's Patrol tend to be younger and middle-aged men with a secondary education and manual jobs. Srđan Nogo, Jovana Stojković and Goran Davidović had stated their support for the organisation.


SNP 1389

SNP 1389 was formed in 2004.' The organisation was initially called "1389", but it later changed its name to "1389 Movement" and then to SNP 1389. Radojko Ljubičić served as the first leader, although he was dismissed by Miša Vacić in 2008, after which Vacić proclaimed himself as the leader of the organisation.' During his leadership, Vacić participated in far-right protests across Europe and orchestrated anti-LGBT protests in Serbia.' Due to his discriminatory actions against the LGBT population, Vacić was detained several times. The main belligerents of the movement are far-right hooligan groups that have been linked with organised crime. In 2008, a group of its members attacked the participants of the Queer festival; Vacić and others were arrested due to the attack.' SNP 1389 had also organised protests in support of Ratko Mladić.' For a brief period between 2010 and 2011, SNP 1389 was merged with SNP Naši.' SNP 1389 participated in the 2014 Belgrade City Assembly election, in which it won 0.08% of the popular vote. The organisation has been classified as far-right, staunchly nationalist and ultraconservative.' SNP 1389 has also been described as neo-Nazi. It denies the notion that the Srebrenica massacre was a genocide and promotes irredentism; they have also claimed North Macedonia and parts of Northern Albania as part of Greater Serbia.' They had listed drug addicts, homosexuals, and the Catholic Church as its enemies. SNP 1389 also advocates for the nationalisation of foreign-acquired Serbian companies.'


SNP Naši

The organisation was founded in 2006 by former members of Obraz.' A far-right organisation led by Ivan M. Ivanović, SNP Naši has used similar rhetoric to SNP 1389.' Ivanović appeared in court multiple times, proceedings against him were held due to provoking racial discrimination. Charges against him were dropped in 2018.' SNP Naši later changed its name to Conservative Movement Naši. Observers had described it as a clerical-fascist organisation, it supports the creation of Greater Serbia and has opposed LGBT rights.' As a staunch Russophilia, pro-Russian organisation, SNP Naši had called for Eurasian integration; it had also organised antisemitic acts.' SNP Naši is staunchly critical of Josip Broz Tito. The organisation had also called to ban George Soros-funded NGOs in Serbia.'


Serbian Action

Serbian Action was formed in 2010. The organisation had tried to stop the "Propaganda Poster in Nedić's Serbia" forum from being held in 2015, although it had failed. Serbian Action had also attended multiple far-right protests; in 2018, it organised a meeting in support of rehabilitation of Milan Nedić. The organisation has been described as clerical-fascist, and also as neo-fascist with clerical elements. It is staunchly Social conservatism, socially conservative, and it opposes LGBT rights in Serbia, LGBT rights; it has accused the LGBT community of spreading "gay propaganda". Serbian Action had previously published several Anti-ziganism, anti-ziganist articles. One of its members was arrested in 2014 after calling to Lynching, lynch Romanis. It had also stated its support for monarchism and opposition to capitalism.'


Serbian Honour

A self-described
humanitarian organisation An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizatio ...
, Serbian Honour was formed in 2014. It has been led by Bojan Stojković since its formation.' The organisation also has a branch in Republika Srpska; the branch was previously headed by Igor Bilbija, who was arrested for prostitution and racketeering.' Serbian Honour garnered public attention in 2014 after participating in attacks during a Association football, football game between Albania and Serbia. Three years later, Stojković organised a protest to stop the projection of a documentary movie that showed positive relations between Serbs and Albanians during the Yugoslav Wars.' In 2019, members of the Serbian Honour organisation stole a horse from a Romani boy. They subsequently video-taped his "re-education" and posted it across social media. Serbian Honour had returned the horse to its owners later that year. According to the Business Register Agency (APR), the organisation has been listed as a Youth Club, youth organisation that promotes youth activism, human rights, and conservationism.' In practice, it has been described as an extremist paramilitary organisation, while the organisation has also promoted militarism and praised convicted war criminals. Its members had also promoted homophobia and opposed minority rights.' Serbian Honour has been described as a Russian-trained paramilitary organisation.


Political parties


Dveri

Initially a political organisation, Dveri was formed in 1999 by a group of students that had published a magazine named ''Dveri Srpske''.' Boško Obradović, one of the co-founders of the organisation, led Dveri from 2015 to 2023. Dveri had already on the characteristics of a political party in the late 2000s, although it registered as a political party in 2015.' The party began participating in electoral politics in 2012 and has continued to participate in them since then, although it boycotted the 2020 parliamentary election. The party entered the National Assembly in 2016 after winning 7 seats in the parliamentary election. It was later a part of the catch-all opposition Alliance for Serbia. Dveri returned to the National Assembly following the 2022 election. It had also proved to have a relatively stable electorate at the national level.' Dveri had previously cooperated with United Russia and Alternative for Germany. Throughout the 2000s, Dveri promoted a combination of clericalism and extreme nationalism named ''svetosavlje'', an ideology linked to Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. Dveri promotes closer ties between the state and church, and has been accused of homophobia due to their Christian right stances. Máté-Tóth described Dveri as a religious fundamentalist party. Dveri has regularly organised "family walks" since 2009, as a counter-parade that promotes conservative values.' It also has close ties with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Dveri had also campaigned against abortion and gay rights. A populist party, Dveri had shifted their views from Jews to homosexuals and later campaigned for the "traditional family".' It had also campaigned against immigration. Regarding economics, Dveri is supportive of economic nationalism and protectionism. A party that advocates for monarchism, supports a Hierarchy, hierarchical society that would be governed by a king and pseudo-democratic institutions which would eventually replace liberal democracy. Dveri is opposed to Serbia joining the European Union, and has shown its opposition to the West and its support for Russia.' Vladan Glišić, a former high-ranking member, accused the European Union of being "fascist".' It opposes sanctioning Russia in regards to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Scholars had described Dveri as far-right and Right wing extremist, right-wing extremist, while Rada Drezgić described it as a conservative movement.' Bakić rejected describing Dveri as fascist and instead described it as extremely conservative, nationalist and anti-globalist. It has been also ideologically identified as ultranationalist. Dinić had commented on their political programme, describing it as a fusion of ultranationalism with elements of fascism. Political scientists Florian Bieber and Filip Milačić have also described Dveri as far-right. Obradović had self-described Dveri as an Anti-fascism, anti-fascist party.


Serbian Party Oathkeepers

Formed in 2012, the Serbian Party Oathkeepers (SSZ) has been described as a far-right political party.' Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski has been the main spokesperson of the party since its formation. SSZ had attacked non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and labelled them as "foreign mercenaries".' SSZ has also been aided by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). It had cooperated with the Italian Lega Nord party and had meetings with United Russia. In 2016, its representatives met with Sergey Lavrov during his visit to Belgrade. An ultranationalist party, SSZ promotes socially conservative views and opposes immigration. SSZ has been a vocal supporter of historical revisionism; it had claimed that "Serbians have been victims of the West" and has supported the revision of history textbooks. It opposes Serbia joining the European Union and wants to establish closer ties with Russia. It had regularly participated in parliamentary elections, although it only managed to cross the threshold after the 2022 election. It lost participation in the 2023 election but Đurđević Stamenkovski became a government minister in 2024.


Serbian Radical Party

Often described as the most prominent far-right party in Serbia, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) was founded in 1991 and has been led by Vojislav Šešelj since its foundation. SRS supported Milošević and his SPS in the first half of the 1990s, since Milošević had contributed to the mass support that SRS received due to media control. It also briefly served in opposition, but it again cooperated with SPS during the "war government". Members of SRS were involved in paramilitary activities during the Yugoslav Wars. Šešelj was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2003, and later that year, after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform, it placed first in the 2003 parliamentary election, but it did not join the government. Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić gradually moderated the image of the party, although in 2008 they had split from SRS to form the SNS. In comparison with SRS, SNS has been supportive of accession of Serbia to the European Union. SRS dropped out of the parliament in 2012, although it returned in 2016 after Šešelj was permitted to come back to Serbia. In the 2020 election and afterwards, it did not receive enough votes to cross the electoral threshold. An ultranationalist party, it was also described as neo-fascist during the 1990s. Observers had also described it as quasi-fascist. SRS is a major proponent of Greater Serbia, an irredentist concept that would include parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. A populist party, it opposes Serbia joining the European Union and promotes closer ties with Russia. It is socially conservative and is in favour of
welfare chauvinism Welfare chauvinism or welfare state nationalism is the political notion that welfare benefits should be restricted to certain groups, particularly to the natives of a country as opposed to immigrants, or should be for the majority, excluding ...
. SRS was previously supported by White power skinhead, far-right skinheads, although they terminated their support following Šešelj's refusal to support them after the murder of a Romani child in 1999. Serbian Radical Party has local branches in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.' It was also the guest of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.


Serbian Right

Serbian Right (SD) is a far-right political party led by Miša Vacić. Vacić previously headed SNP 1389.' The party was formed out of fifteen movements that had similar ideological beliefs, while it also received support from Jim Dowson, a British far-right activist, and local political leaders. Observers had claimed that the party was under control of Aleksandar Vučić. During one of its early assembly conferences in Šabac, Vacić threatened opposition politicians Marinika Tepić and Nebojša Zelenović with violence.' Government associates such as Milenko Jovanov and Zoran Đorđević (politician), Zoran Đorđević participated in the conference.' Vacić had also organised attacks against opposition figures in 2017 and 2019. Later in June 2021, Vacić attended a meeting that was organised by the neo-fascist Alliance for Peace and Freedom. Vacić was a presidential candidate in the 2022 election; he won 0.9 percent of the popular vote. As an ultranationalist party, it has promoted traditionalism, and stated its support for Serbia joining the Eurasian Economic Union.' Vacić had stated his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to its programme, the party supports the formation of a patriarchal and hierarchal society, monarchy, authority, and Serbian Orthodoxy. Its rhetoric has been considered to be racist and anti-migrant. Vacić and his party have cooperated with the neo-fascist Alliance for Peace and Freedom European party.


Others

Far-right organisations such as Sveti Justin Filozof and Nomokanon had also received media attention. Sveti Justin Filozof was a nationalist organisation that was led by Milan Bates. It later moderated their stances, although it was dissolved by 2008. Nomokanon was aided by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC). Rasonalisti, a neo-Nazi organisation, was active throughout the 2000s. They had rejected the left–right political spectrum and instead supported "racial nationalism". Rasonalisti also operated an Internet forum, which acted similar to Stormfront. Solidarité Kosovo, a far-right organisation, is led by Arnaud Gouillon and it promotes historical revisionism. Gouillion took part in the 2012 French presidential election, in which he was a candidate for the white supremacist Generation Identity movement. In 2020, he was appointed to the position of director of the Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and the Serbs in the Region. Zentropa Srbija is a neo-Nazi group that has praised Nedić and organised a gathering to mark the anniversary of his suicide in 2023. Party of Serbian Unity was a far-right political party led by Arkan, Željko Ražnatović "Arkan". An ultranationalist party, it was represented in the National Assembly during the 2000–2003 convocation. The far-right Hungarian nationalist Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement, which was led by László Toroczkai, was formed in Serbia in 2004. It advocated for separatism and the re-creation of Hungarian irredentism, Greater Hungary. Toroczkai was banned from entering Serbia by the government in 2008. Before forming the Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement, Toroczkai was associated with the far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP), and later served as vice-president of the ultranationalist Jobbik. Toroczkai was expelled from Jobbik, which had shifted ideologically to the centre-right, and then formed the Our Homeland Movement in 2018. By 2023, Toroczkai had shifted from his anti-Serbian stance, forming an alliance between Our Homeland Movement and the Serbian Party Oathkeepers and Dveri, and urging unity between nationalists in the two countries.


Individuals

Vojislav Šešelj, the president of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), has been noted to be the most famous far-right individual in Serbia. Alongside him, Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić, who were high-ranking members of SRS, were also noted as notable far-right individuals. Nikolić and Vučić abandoned the far-right after forming the populist
Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS) in 2008. SNS came to power in 2012, after which Serbia has suffered from democratic backsliding into authoritarianism. Šešеlj had supported Vučić in the 2022 election. Individuals such as Boško Obradović, Miša Vacić, and Mladen Obradović had been described as notable far-right individuals. Vacić has been a prominent far-right individual since the 2000s, mainly due to regularly attending and organising far-right protests, and his arrests.' Vacić was arrested several times for spreading hatred. Alongside him, Mladen Obradović, leader of Obraz, had received public attention due to his views. Srđan Nogo, who previously served as member of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
from 2016 to 2020, had promoted multiple far-right
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
. Žejko Ražnatović "Arkan" was a prominent mobster who was associated with far-right criminal and paramilitary groups. He led a group of Belgrade criminals and was the leader of the far-right Party of Serbian Unity.


See also

* Bosnian genocide denial * Neo-fascism * Neo-Nazism * Radical right (Europe) * Far-right politics in Croatia


Notes


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External links


Why won't Serbia condemn Putin's war? , Focus on Europe
on YouTube
Riots Erupt at Serbia Gay Pride Parade
on YouTube
Far-right disrupt Serbia gay pride parade
on YouTube


Further reading

* Vučić, Marija (21 September 2021)
"Hate, Lies and Vigilantes: Serbian 'Anti-Vaxxer' Brigade Plays With Fire"
(in Serbian). ''Balkan Insight''. {{Europe topic , Far-right politics in Far-right politics in Serbia, Anti-immigration politics in Europe Anti-Islam sentiment in Serbia Antisemitism in Serbia Far-right politics in Europe Fascist movements Neo-Nazism in Serbia Political history of Serbia Political movements in Serbia Serbian irredentism Serbian nationalism