Migranti odlaze mržnja ostaje - antimigrantska ekstremna desnica u Srbiji

Abstract

The extreme right has been present in Serbia since the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia disintegrated during the war of the 1990s. Its thematic backbone is based on Serbian nationalism and chauvinism, preserving the patriarchal family and opposing same-sex marriage, anti-globalism and strengthening ties with Russia. Migrants were not the topic of extreme right-wingers even during the “migrant crisis” of 2015 and 2016, when about a million refugees passed through Serbia. This changed three years ago, when the right-wing political parties Dveri and Dosta je bilo [Enough is enough] started to scare citizens by telling them that they would become a minority as a result of the mass settlement of migrants in Serbia. A number of extreme right-wing groups accepted this rhetoric, which soon grew into ‘civil arrests’, interception and intimidation of “illegal” migrants. Apart from the immediate consequences, such as harassment and intimidation of migrants, such activities of the extreme right have long-term, less visible consequences for society in Serbia, such as influencing the spread of views and values that are contrary to the democratic order. That is why it is so important to explore who the main actors who create and spread anti-immigrant narratives today are, why they (suddenly) started doing it, and what makes people susceptible to those narratives. It is also important to identify the main anti-immigrant narratives and messages, as well as the mechanisms and channels used by extreme right-wingers to attract attention and spread their influence to a wider audience. To answer these questions, we have conducted 42 interviews and analysed messages the most active far-right groups and individuals posted on social networks in 2021.