The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world we live in, affecting our lives and habits. Changes are visible in every sphere of society, and every change has its impact on political trends and vice versa. On the one hand, the pandemic put the spotlight on science, medicine and technology. On the other hand, it also brought to the forefront conspiracy theorists and those who do not believe in the progress of medicine and science in the first place. The pandemic also lead to an increased activity of the far right which connected to the anti-vaxxer movement and conspiracy theories; the way this unfolded in Serbia was covered by a study named "Potential generators of right-wing extremism during the COVID-19 pandemic."
The far-right is thriving in the muddy waters of conspiracy theories
People who oppose vaccines do not automatically share the far-right ideology, but they do represent a population from which extremists can recruit new followers. Today, about 30 extremist groups are active in Serbia, numbering approximately 5,000 members, while the activities of some other similar groups were banned due to incitement to racial, religious, and national hatred. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, anti-vaxxers and the far-right found common ground in embracing conspiracy theories, which suit both groups because they cause a feeling of fear. Last year, an incident occurred in Serbia in a migrant camp in Belgrade, when a member of a far-right group named Leviathan crashed his car into the reception center. The fear that pushes people into the arms of far-right groups is the fruit of various conspiracy theories about migrants and their settlement in Europe. Another important finding of the research is that during the pandemic there was increased activity of the far right on the Internet as the only possible way to act, but also that the spread of the extreme right is increasingly represented through ‘white power’ music. There are several bands in Serbia that propagate Nazism under the very eyes of the authorities, which are failing to act in any way about it.
An unexpected finding of the study was that a quarter of the respondents said that they support the actions of some far-right groups. Extremist organizations today are far more adept at using the democratic system, presenting themselves as an alternative and increasingly approaching mainstream politics. Up to now, there is no Serbian far right group that would be able to gather enough support to be voted into the Parliament or some other state institutions. Their power is limited, but their actions are becoming more visible.
The research also examined the attitude of citizens towards migrants. More than a third of respondents have a negative attitude towards migrants, even though they did not have any contact with them, while every fifth respondent said that the national identity of Serbs is endangered by migrants. While in 2016, the main group targeted by social distancing was the LGBT population, migrants have now move to that position, with a third of Serbs saying that they would not like to live in the same country as migrants, according to the Commissioner for Equality.
Thus, several actions of extremist groups were held in Belgrade last year, with the goal of intimidating migrants, and during one protest, the extremist organization "People's Patrol" called on its supporters to "clean" the parks of migrants. The same group intercepted migrants in downtown Belgrade and informed them that they were "forbidden to move", with the message that they would "have a problem" if someone attacked "Serbian women and men." Such rallies were not banned although the Law on Public Assemblies in Serbia does not allow such gatherings and there are large misdemeanor penalties for organizers and participants in events that are inciting racial, national, or religious hatred and intolerance.
Chasing for popular support: the government’s tolerance towards the far right
Although over half a million people fled to Serbia during the wars of the 1990s, today as many as 75% of Serbian citizens have negative feelings towards migrants from the Middle East and Africa, according to data from the 2020 Open Society Foundation. This lack of understanding that the citizens of Serbia show towards migrants can be a consequence of the spreading of conspiracy theories, while the creation of an atmosphere of intolerance towards every foreign element may be linked to the xenophobic policy of certain political leaders. The authorities in Serbia do not show a strong enough political will to deal with such policies, because there are individuals in the Government of Serbia whose role is to address the nationalist part of the electorate, which must be satisfied.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, also spoke about the strengthening of the far right in Serbia, and in his address to the citizens on the occasion of the formation of the new Government of Serbia last year, he repeated several times that “no violence against migrants will be allowed in Serbia. […] It will not happen that anyone in this country ever beats, whether they call themselves people's protection, patrols or whatever, they will not be able to beat migrants or anyone else," said Vucic.
In this way, the President of Serbia and the current government control both the narrative for and the narrative against migrants, covering the entire spectrum of the electorate.
The mix of far right and conspiracy theorists was visible at one event in Belgrade where citizens without protective masks gathered to protest against the new restrictive measures adopted because of a rise in the number of infections. Some people held banners with the inscription "No surrender" with the flag of Serbia over the map of Kosovo, while other banners had messages against migrants, the “Covid terror” or the vaccination. Speakers at the protest denied the existence of the coronavirus, pointed out to the danger of vaccination, chipping, and 5G networks and spoke about the defense of the Serbian national identity.
The fact that this phenomenon is not limited to Serbia is also shown by the country’s far-right connections at the international level: at a recent event in Italy called La Nostra Europa, there were representatives of right-wing organizations from Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Germany and Serbia.
One of the participants in the event was the leader of the Serbian Right, which was formed in 2017, as an association, and is led by Miša Vacić, former leader of the right-wing movement Nashi 1389. The Serbian Right has close ties with the ruling party of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. High-ranking officials of the ruling party were present at the founding assembly of this extremist organization, while the leader of the Serbian right was officially employed in the state office for Kosovo and Metohija. Misa Vacic said that cooperation on common issues such as COVID, migrants, and increasingly frequent propaganda on the issue of attacks on family values were discussed in Rome.
Official institutions in Serbia do not pay attention to the actions of extremist organizations or work on the prevention of possible violence they may engage into. If such organizations would benefit in the future from media or government support, it should be expected that they would only strengthen.
