DEKLARACIJA NA KRILIMA “POPULIZMA”
DECLARATION ON THE WINGS OF “POPULISM”

Author(s): Dželal Ibraković
Subject(s): Political history, Social history, Wars in Jugoslavia
Published by: Institut za istraživanje zločina protiv čovječnosti i međunarodnog prava Univerziteta u Sarajevu
Keywords: declaration “populism“; charismatic leader; people; aggression; culture;
Summary/Abstract: The Declaration on the Protection of the National and Political Rights and the Common Future of the Serbian People (hereafter referred to as the “Declaration”), adopted on 8 June 2024 in Belgrade by a non-existent institution or a fictional citizens’ association called the “All-Serbian Assembly,” was endorsed by the parliaments of the Republika Srpska and the Republic of Serbia. It represents a continuation of the “populist“ movement established in the mid-1980s. As such, it defines the politics of the “Serbian World,” centered on the entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska) and the Republic of Serbia (again, RS). The Declaration provides a framework for unifying the concept of “Serb” as an official designation, regardless of where members of this “people” reside worldwide. It enumerates all continents with highly specific objectives, not only for identity consolidation and cultural homogenization of the concept of the “Serbian people” within the two “Serbian states” as defined by the Declaration (the two RS), but also as a tool of broader political mobilization. Among the listed actors, the Declaration is proposed by the “Serbian people” itself, reflecting the highest form of “populism“, in which political elites cloak themselves with this broad and abstract term. Its use is part of the notion of “assembly-ness” (sabornost), also invoked by the authors of the Declaration, which implies gatherings led by a self-proclaimed leader of the people-namely, the President of the Republic of Serbia-while others play largely ceremonial roles. This “populist“ structure, as the ideological foundation of the people’s movement (reflected in the ruling party’s name, the Serbian Progressive Party, and in the planned formation of the Movement for the People and the State), differs only in nuance from the template established by Milošević. The central figure is the leader and his National Council, which ostensibly supports other gatherings, yet this exclusive rallying around the leader under the banner of a “common future” is claimed as a right of the Serbian people, whom the Declaration portrays as possessing a millennia-long historical presence in these two “states,” always aligned with the “rightside of history,” and grounded in Orthodox Christianity.

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