THE EXTREME RIGHT IN SERBIA AND RISK OF RIGHT-WING TERRORISM

Abstract

Since the fall of Slobodan Milošević’s regime, we have witnessed ever more open and frequent actions by extreme right-wing groups, which have provoked controversies in public and private life in Serbia. Terrorism, by definition, represents the unlawful use or threat of use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives. Right wing terrorism normally appears as a reaction to perceived domestic ideological, religious and ethnic enemies. With their activities in the last twenty years, different segments of the radical right – political parties, clerical fascist, nationalist and national socialist formal and informal groups, as well as paramilitary formations – have demonstrated that they can resort to violence. The socio-economic and cultural ambient of Serbia significantly contributes to the popularization and proliferation of extreme right ideas and movements. The political and economic crisis, accompanied by the recent lost wars, amplify feelings of bitterness and discontent of the, so-called, ”losers of the transition”, who blame foreign factors and turn to populism, reactionary and anachronistic church circles and political ideas, whilst some of them find comfort in chauvinism, anti-Semitism and racism. Controversial situations such as the exclusion of Serbia from a solution for the Kosovo issue, approaching the EU without tangible economic benefit, the Pope’s arrival to Serbia, membership in NATO and positive discrimination towards minorities (especially homosexuals) could be the circumstances, i.e. ”trigger events”, that might incite further radicalization of the extreme right.