Foundation The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) was formed on 23 February 1991 by the merger of
Vojislav Šešelj's
Serbian Chetnik Movement (SČP) and the
People's Radical Party (NRS). The SČP had been formed in 1990, although it was denied official registration due to its overt identification with the historical
Chetniks. Formation of the new party followed Šešelj's breakaway from the
Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) due to internal quarrels with
Vuk Drašković; the SPO having been founded by the merger of Šešelj's former Serbian Freedom Movement and Drašković's faction from the
Serbian National Renewal.
Milošević breaks with SRS By late 1993 the parties had turned against each other. Following Milošević's agreement to the
Dayton 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 the
Battle of Kosovo fought against the
Ottoman Empire in 1389. U.S. officials in turn branded him a "fascist", while the
U.S. Department of State declared that they would never deal with him. Deputy President Nikolić became the new
de 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." , 2008
Nikolić leadership During the
2003 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. While it won a clear
plurality 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. He stepped down just five days later, as the DS and DSS agreed to form a coalition government. At the National Assembly's first session on 14 February 2007, politicians voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposal by UN Special Envoy
Martti Ahtisaari on the preliminary resolution of the status of
Kosovo. New elections were called in 2008 as the DS-DSS coalition collapsed due to EU recognition of
Kosovo's declaration of independence. In the
2008 parliamentary election the SRS again won 29% of the vote, and 78 seats, leading to the formation of a DS-SPS-led government coalition. The party also won 17 seats in the
Kosovska Mitrovica-based
Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija consisting of Kosovan Serb municipalities who defied Kosovo's declaration of independence.
2008 split After disagreements with Šešelj, on 8 September 2008, Nikolić formed the new parliamentary group
Napred Srbijo! ("Forward Serbia!") along with a number of other SRS members. Nikolić and his group were officially expelled from the SRS the next day, in response to which Nikolić announced that he would form his own party. On 14 September, SRS general secretary
Aleksandar Vučić also resigned from the SRS. Nikolić and Vučić then launched the
Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) on 21 October of the same year. Following their departure,
Dragan Todorović took over as the party's acting leader from Nikolić; however the office of deputy chairman was officially abolished. By April 2011 the SRS had about 7% of support in opinion polls, while the SNS and its coalition partners held about 40%. In the
2012 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.
Šešelj's return With their leader back in Serbia in 2014, the party campaigned for the
parliamentary 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 the
2020 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. In the following elections, they did not receive enough votes to cross the electoral threshold. The party formed an alliance with the ruling
Serbian Progressive Party to contest the
2023 Belgrade City Assembly election. This announcement caused attention in national media. In the
2024 Belgrade City Assembly election, the party gained 2 seats whilst being with the ruling SNS coalition. During the
2024 local election, the SRS cooperated with the SNS coalition. == International relations ==