Serbian Radical Party Српска радикална странка | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SRS |
| President | Vojislav Šešelj |
| Deputy President | Aleksandar Šešelj |
| Vice-Presidents | |
| Founders |
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| Founded | 23 February 1991 (34 years, 276 days) |
| Merger of | |
| Headquarters | Magistratski trg 3,Belgrade |
| Newspaper | Velika Srbija |
| Armed wing | White Eagles (1991–1995) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Montenegrin counterpart | Party of Serb Radicals (1992–2021) |
| Colours | Blue |
| Slogan | Srbija je večna dok su joj deca verna ("Serbia is eternal as long as its children are loyal") |
| Anthem | "Sprem'te se sprem'te" |
| National Assembly | 0 / 250 |
| Assembly of Vojvodina | 0 / 120 |
| City Assembly of Belgrade | 2 / 110 |
| Parliament of Montenegro | 0 / 81 |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| srpskaradikalnastranka | |
TheSerbian Radical Party (Serbian:Српска радикална странка,romanized: Srpska radikalna stranka, abbr.SRS) is afar-right,[1]ultranationalist[2]political party inSerbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader isVojislav Šešelj.[3]
The SRS was founded in 1991 as a merger of theSerbian Chetnik Movement, led by Šešelj, and thePeople's Radical Party, led byTomislav Nikolić. Upon formation, they became the president and deputy president of SRS respectively. During the first half of the 1990s the SRS supported the rulingSocialist Party of Serbia regime, which had contributed greatly to the rise of SRS through the use of media.[3] The party had strong support until the2000 election, when SRS suffered a major defeat, but throughpopulist rhetoric it became the most voted party in the early-to-mid 2000s. Šešelj voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY to defend himself against charges ofwar crimes and crimes against humanity that he was alleged to have committed during theCroatian War of Independence and theBosnian War. Nikolić assumedde facto party leadership until he left the party in 2008.[4]
During the years of Nikolić's leadership, SRS blended ultranationalism with brash, populist, andanti-corruption rhetoric.[5] Due to disagreements with Šešelj over European Union integration, Nikolić took many of the high-ranking members of the party to form theSerbian Progressive Party (SNS), which became the ruling party of Serbia in 2012. After the split,Dragan Todorović assumedde facto leadership, and the party went into a major decline, only pulling 4% of the vote in2012 and 2% in2014, the first time that SRS was not represented in the parliament. Shortly after Šešelj's return to Serbia in 2014, the party gained back some of its popularity and it placed third with 8% of the vote in the2016 election.[6] In late 2019, the party went into decline again, and in the2020 election it ended up only with 2% of the vote and gaining no seats in the parliament again.
Aright-wing populist party,[7][8][9] SRS supports the creation of aGreater Serbia.[10][11] It isEurosceptic,anti-Western orientated, opposed to theaccession of Serbia to the European Union and supports establishing closer ties with Russia instead.[12][13][14] Some journalists described SRS asneofascist in the 1990s due to its vocal support of ultranationalism.[15][16][17][18] Regarding social issues, SRS istraditionalist.[19] It also holds local branches in some of the neighbouring states.
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The party's core ideology is based onSerbian nationalism and the goal of creating aGreater Serbia.[10][11] The party is also strongly opposed toEuropean integration (euroscepticism[13]) andglobalisation,[20][21][22] advocating closer ties withRussia instead.[20][22] The SRS is extremely critical of theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where Šešelj was incarcerated from 2003 to 2014.[23] The party regards former generalRatko Mladić and former Republika Srpska presidentRadovan Karadžić as "Serbian heroes".[24][25]
In 2007, the party advocated the use ofmilitary force to prevent theindependence of Kosovo.[20]
Due toTomislav Nikolić's support for theaccession of Serbia to the European Union conflicting with the party's original hardline policy, Nikolić was expelled in 2008. With his supporters breaking apart from the SRS, he founded theSerbian Progressive Party (SNS)[4] which succeeded the SRS as one of the country's leading parties.
In theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, SRS was briefly associated with theFree Democrats Group in 2019.[26]
The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) was formed on 23 February 1991 by the merger ofVojislav Šešelj'sSerbian Chetnik Movement (SČP) and thePeople's Radical Party (NRS).[27] The SČP had been formed in 1990, although it was denied official registration due to its overt identification with the historicalChetniks. Formation of the new party followed Šešelj's breakaway from theSerbian Renewal Movement (SPO) due to internal quarrels withVuk Drašković; the SPO having been founded by the merger of Šešelj's former Serbian Freedom Movement and Drašković's faction from theSerbian National Renewal.[27] Šešelj was chosen as the first president of the SRS whileTomislav Nikolić, a member of the NRS, became deputy president.[27]
Led by Milošević, theSocialist Party (SPS) contributed greatly to the rise of the SRS through its use of the media.[3] With the SRS allowed to promulgate its ultranationalist views on state television, the SPS could present itself as a comparatively moderate, yet still patriotic party.[28] Šešelj promoted popular notions of an "international conspiracy against the Serbs," the foremost of which involved Germany, theVatican, theCIA, Italy,Turkey, as well as the centrist Serbian political parties. Such conspiracy theories were also promoted by Milošević-controlled media.[29] In 1991, Šešelj became a Member of Parliament as an independent candidate,[30] and created a belligerent image by engaging in physical fights with opponents of the government.[29]
The 22.6% of the vote won by the SRS in the1992 parliamentary election confirmed the party's rapid rise and made it the second largest parliamentary party.[31] Šešelj campaigned for the election on issues such as drivingAlbanians out ofKosovo toAlbania, expelling Muslims fromSandžak, and forcing theCroats out of Vojvodina.[32] Having helped engineer the party's election to parliament,[28] the SPS formed an informal coalition with the SRS,[33] and collaborated on ousting moderate politicians from public office.[28][34][35]
By late 1993 the parties had turned against each other.[28][34][36] Milošević saw it necessary to change his policies and distance himself from the SRS in order for his new peacemaking orientation to be taken seriously by the West, as well as to counter the effects of United Nations sanctions against the country.[36] Many socialists also feared competition from the party based on its strong growth record.[36] As discord erupted among the opposition including the SRS, Milošević called newelections in 1993. These cut SRS support almost in half, while the SPS increased its share of the vote from 28% to 38%.[37] Although most people had grown tired of the wars, UN sanctions and the catastrophic economic situation, the SRS had also been subjected to powerful state propaganda and exclusion by the media.[38] Following Milošević's agreement to theDayton accords in 1995 to bring peace to Bosnia, Šešelj denounced Milošević as "the worst traitor in Serbian history", and likened the event to Serbia's greatest defeat since theBattle of Kosovo fought against theOttoman Empire in 1389.[34]
In 1995, Šešelj and the SRS joined in a technical coalition with the centristDemocratic Party (DS) and the conservativeDemocratic Party of Serbia (DSS).[39] This gave Šešelj a degree of democratic legitimacy, although the coalition withered away by the end of the same year.[39]
When Šešelj beat the SPS candidate for the1997 presidential election, despite the contest being declared invalid due to low turnout, he was again brought into the Serbian government.[34] In 1998 the SRS and SPO entered the so-called "war" government, and as Deputy Prime Minister, Šešelj passed new information laws and helped launch propaganda offensives againstKosovo Albanians.[40] U.S. officials in turn branded him a "fascist", while theU.S. Department of State declared that they would never deal with him.[34] Following the 1999NATO occupation ofKosovo, Šešelj resigned from government until his party was enticed to re-enter the administration by the SPS.[40] As the party had held posts under Milošević's regime, it was excluded from theDemocratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), and suffered a major defeat in the2000 parliamentary election when Milošević was ousted.[40][41]
During theYugoslav Wars some SRS supporters including Šešelj were active in paramilitary units loyal to the federal government, serving as his "iron fist" during military campaigns.[20][42] Milošević's regime at times supported Šešelj and provided him with arms, whilst at others it accused him of war crimes.[43] The SRS was also provided with resources to establish paramilitary volunteer forces such as theWhite Eagles.[28] As the SRS protested against Milošević's extradition to theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2001, Milošević urged his supporters to vote for the SRS rather than his own SPS.[20] The ICTY also indicted Šešelj, who has been on trial since 2007 following his surrender in 2003.[44] Deputy President Nikolić became the newde facto SRS leader and presented a more moderate face, with a new approach to international cooperation and a vision of Serbia acting as a "link between the West and the East."[45]
During the2003 parliamentary election, the SRS condemned cooperation with the war crimes tribunal, corruption scandals in government, poor living standards, and slightly moderated its formerly aggressive rhetoric.[41] While it won a clearplurality with 28% of the vote and 82 seats, the party was still viewed as a pariah by its democratic rivals and was thus left in opposition.[41] In the2007 parliamentary election it won 29% of the vote and 81 seats. The SRS caucus in parliament elected Nikolić as its president andAleksandar Vučić vice-president. Nikolić was later chosen as parliamentary speaker, supported by the DSS amidst a deadlock in coalition talks.[46] He stepped down just five days later, as the DS and DSS agreed to form a coalition government.[47]
At the National Assembly's first session on 14 February 2007, politicians voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposal by UN Special EnvoyMartti Ahtisaari on the preliminary resolution of the status ofKosovo.[48] New elections were called in 2008 as the DS-DSS coalition collapsed due to EU recognition ofKosovo's declaration of independence.[49][50] In the2008 parliamentary election the SRS again won 29% of the vote, and 78 seats, leading to the formation of a DS-SPS-led government coalition.[51][52] The party also won 17 seats in theKosovska Mitrovica-basedCommunity Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija consisting of Kosovan Serb municipalities who defied Kosovo's declaration of independence.[53]
After disagreements with Šešelj, on 8 September 2008, Nikolić formed the new parliamentary groupNapred Srbijo! ("Forward Serbia!") along with a number of other SRS members.[21] Šešelj responded with a letter on 11 September addressed to SRS members, in which he condemned the Nikolić group as "traitors" and "Western puppets", while calling on SRS members to remain loyal to the ideologies of "Serbian nationalism, anti-globalism, andRussophilia."[21] Nikolić and his group were officially expelled from the SRS the next day,[21][54] in response to which Nikolić announced that he would form his own party.[55] On 14 September, SRS general secretaryAleksandar Vučić also resigned from the SRS.[21][56] Nikolić and Vučić then launched theSerbian Progressive Party (SNS) on 21 October of the same year.[57][58]
Following their departure,Dragan Todorović took over as the party's acting leader from Nikolić;[59][60] however the office of deputy chairman was officially abolished.[61] By April 2011 the SRS had about 7% of support in opinion polls, while the SNS and its coalition partners held about 40%.[62][63] In the2012 parliamentary election the Radical Party received only 4.63% of the popular vote, thus failing to cross the 5% threshold to enter parliament for the first time in the party's history.[64]
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2017) |
With their leader back in Serbia in 2014, the party campaigned for theparliamentary election of 2016 aiming to restore its presence prior to 2008. They received 8.34% of the popular vote and gained back 22 seats. In the2020 parliamentary election, the SRS received 2.22% of the votes, thus failing to get above the new lowered 3% threshold and lost all their seats.[65] In the following elections, they did not receive enough votes to cross the electoral threshold.[66]
The party formed an alliance with the rulingSerbian Progressive Party to contest the2023 Belgrade City Assembly election.[67] This announcement caused attention in national media.[68][69][70] In the2024 Belgrade City Assembly election, the party gained 2 seats whilst being with the ruling SNS coalition.[71][72] During the2024 local election, the SRS cooperated with the SNS coalition.
The Serbian Radical Party maintains ties with theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia and had ties with the FrenchNational Front party in the 1990s.[20][39][73] The SRS also has minimal ties with the far-rightGolden Dawn party in Greece, focusing on religious similarities, and theForza Nuova party in Italy.[74]
The party counted Iraq'sSaddam Hussein and theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party as one of its political and financial backers until the2003 invasion of Iraq, as the parties found common cause in defiance of the United States.[20] Similar sentiment led the party to back Libya'sMuammar Gaddafi following the2011 military intervention in Libya byNATO. Serbia and Libya had maintained good relations since Gaddafi vocally opposed NATO intervention in Serbia in the 1990s, while he also backed Serbia's opposition to Kosovo's independence.[75] The SRS has also expressed support for Syrian presidentBashar al-Assad following theSyrian Civil War.[76] Šešelj advocates for a neutral position on theIsrael-Palestine conflict, balancing Serbia's strong relations with both countries.[77]
On 9 March 2016 Šešelj andZmago Jelinčič, president of theSlovenian National Party, signed an agreement with the intention of bringing their parties closer in terms of partnership and political alliance.[78]
| # | President | Birth–Death | Term start | Term end | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vojislav Šešelj[nb 1] |  | 1954– | 23 February 1991 | Incumbent | |
Šešelj was incarcerated at theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from 2003 to 2014.[79]
| # | Name | Birth–Death | Term start | Term end | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomislav Nikolić[nb 2] | .jpg) | 1952– | 24 February 2003 | 5 September 2008 | |
| 2 | Dragan Todorović[nb 3] |  | 1953– | 5 September 2008 | 26 May 2012 | |
| 3 | Nemanja Šarović[nb 2] |  | 1974– | 26 May 2012 | 12 November 2014 | |
| Year | Leader | Popular vote | % of popular vote | # | # of seats | Seat change | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Vojislav Šešelj | 1,066,765 | 24.04% |  2nd | 73 / 250 | New | Support |
| 1993 | 595,467 | 14.43% |  3rd | 39 / 250 | 34 | Opposition | |
| 1997 | 1,162,216 | 29.26% | 2nd | 82 / 250 | 43 | Government | |
| 2000 | 322,333 | 8.81% | 3rd | 23 / 250 | 59 | Opposition | |
| 2003 | 1,069,212 | 27.98% | 1st | 82 / 250 | 59 | Opposition | |
| 2007 | 1,153,453 | 29.07% |  1st | 81 / 250 | 1 | Opposition | |
| 2008 | 1,219,436 | 30.10% | 2nd | 78 / 250 | 3 | Opposition | |
| 2012 | 180,558 | 4.83% | 7th | 0 / 250 | 78 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2014 | 72,303 | 2.08% | 11th | 0 / 250 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2016 | 306,052 | 8.34% | 3rd | 22 / 250 | 22 | Opposition | |
| 2020 | 65,954 | 2.13% | 8th | 0 / 250 | 22 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2022 | 82,066 | 2.22% | 9th | 0 / 250 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2023 | 55,782 | 1.50% | 8th | 0 / 250 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
|-
| Election year | Candidate | 1st Round | 2nd Round | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # Votes | % Votes | # Votes | % Votes | |||
| 1990[a] | Vojislav Šešelj | 96,277 | 1.98% | — | Lost N | |
| 1992[b] | Slobodan Milošević | 2,515,047 | 57.46% | — | Won Y | |
| Sep 1997[c] | Vojislav Šešelj | 1,126,940 | 28.36% | 1,733,859 | 50.62% | WonY |
| Dec 1997 | 1,227,076 | 32.87% | 1,383,868 | 38.81% | LostN | |
| Sep 2002[c] | 845,308 | 23.74% | — | LostN | ||
| Dec 2002[c] | 1,063,296 | 37.10% | — | LostN | ||
| 2003[c] | Tomislav Nikolić | 1,166,896 | 47.87% | — | WonY | |
| 2004 | 954,339 | 30.97% | 1,434,068 | 46.03% | LostN | |
| 2008 | 1,646,172 | 40.76% | 2,197,155 | 48.81% | LostN | |
| 2012 | Jadranka Šešelj | 147,793 | 3.96% | — | LostN | |
| 2017 | Vojislav Šešelj | 163,802 | 4.56% | — | LostN | |
| 2022[d] | Aleksandar Vučić | 2,224,914 | 60.01% | — | WonY | |
Major positions held by Serbian Radical Party members:
| President of the National Assembly of Serbia | Years |
|---|---|
| Tomislav Nikolić | 2007 |
| Mayor of Novi Sad | Years |
| Milorad Mirčić | 1993–1994 |
| Maja Gojković | 2004–2008 |
The program of the radical right-wing SRS was founded upon the same principles.
Although far-right parties are numerous throughout the region, they can boast no real successes, with the exception the far-right Serbian Radical Party (Srpska Radikalna Stranka, SRS)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
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