Russian Party (Serbia)
Russian Party Руска Странка Русская партия | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | RS |
| Leader | Slobodan Nikolić |
| Founded | 9 June 2013 |
| Split from | People's Peasant Party |
| Headquarters | Cerska 17/4, Šabac |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colors | Blue |
| Slogan | "Srbija ka istoku" ("Serbia to the East") |
| National Assembly | 1 / 250 |
| Assembly of Vojvodina | 1 / 120 |
| City Assembly of Belgrade | 1 / 110 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Russian Party (Russian: Русская партия, romanized: Russkaya partiya; Serbian: Руска Странка, РС, romanized: Ruska Stranka, RS) is a political party in Serbia that claims to represent the Russian ethnic minority.[2] The party gathers a number of pro-Russian citizens, mostly Serbs. The party's president is Slobodan Nikolić, a former vice-president of the People's Peasant Party.[3] The party competed in the 2023 parliamentary election in alliance with the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
Programme
According to its program, the Russian Party advocates Serbia's entry into the Eurasian Economic Union, and the full membership of Serbia in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.[4] The party also advocates increasing cooperation with the Russian Federation in the field of economy, culture and education.[5]
Criticism and electoral controversies
The party has faced accusations of being a satellite organization of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) that exploits minority party electoral advantages. Legal expert Sofija Mandić described the party's participation as a "satellite" of the ruling party, suggesting that "these are votes from Serbian Progressive Party, which in this way tries to create another 'reserve player' for itself." Mandić characterized the party as "a political group that does not exist in real political life, appearing only when elections come."[6] Minority parties in Serbia benefit from lower electoral thresholds, needing only to pass the "natural threshold" rather than the standard 3% census required for majority parties.
In the June 2024 Niš local elections, the party won a single mandate with 1,224 votes in a city where only 121 residents identified as ethnically Russian in the 2022 census. This mandate proved decisive, as both the SNS and the opposition lists had won exactly 30 seats, which is one short of a majority. The party's representative, Tihomir Perić, subsequently formed a coalition with SNS, stating "I'm not Russian, I'm a Russophile." Of the eight candidates on the Niš list, only one had a Russian name.[7]
Electoral performance
Parliamentary elections
| Year | Leader | Popular vote | % of popular vote | # | # of seats | Seat change | Coalition | Status | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Slobodan Nikolić | 6,547 | 0.19% | 15th | 0 / 250
|
0 | – | Extra-parliamentary | [8] |
| 2016 | 13,777 | 0.38% | 16th | 0 / 250
|
0 | – | Extra-parliamentary | [9] | |
| 2020 | 6,295 | 0.20% | 21st | 0 / 250
|
0 | – | Extra-parliamentary | [10] | |
| 2022 | Did not participate | 0 / 250
|
0 | – | Extra-parliamentary | – | |||
| 2023 | 11,369 | 0.31% | 14th | 1 / 250
|
1 | RS–NKPJ | Support | [11] | |
Presidential elections
| Year | Candidate | 1st round popular vote | % of popular vote | 2nd round popular vote | % of popular vote | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Did not participate | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
References
- ^ a b c d "Ko učestvuje na izborima za vlast u Beogradu". BBC News na srpskom (in Serbian (Latin script)). 16 November 2023.
- ^ Miladinović, Aleksandar (10 June 2020). "Ko je ko na glasačkom listiću". BBC News (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- ^ "Registry of political parties".
- ^ ""Руска странка" у Шапцу – Амбасада Руске Федерације у Републици Србији". www.ambasadarusije.rs. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Ruska stranka | Srbija izbori 2020". www.srbijaizbori.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Ruska stranka u Srbiji osvaja mandate uz optužbe da je satelit vlasti" (in Serbian). Radio Slobodna Evropa. 5 June 2024.
- ^ "Lokalni izbori 2024: Šta je Ruska stranka u Srbiji i koga predstavlja" (in Serbian (Latin script)). BBC News na srpskom. 5 June 2024.
- ^ Vukmirović, Dragan (2014). Izbori za narodne poslanike Narodne skupštine Republike Srbije [Elections for Deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia] (PDF) (in Serbian). Belgrade: Republički zavod za statistiku. p. 9. ISBN 978-86-6161-108-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ Kovačević, Miladin (2016). Izbori za narodne poslanike Narodne skupštine Republike Srbije [Elections for Deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia] (PDF) (in Serbian). Belgrade: Republički zavod za statistiku. p. 9. ISBN 978-86-6161-154-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ Kovačević, Miladin (2020). Izbori za narodne poslanike Narodne skupštine Republike Srbije [Elections for Deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia] (PDF) (in Serbian). Belgrade: Republički zavod za statistiku. p. 9. ISBN 978-86-6161-193-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ Kovačević, Miladin (2024). Izbori za narodne poslanike Narodne skupštine Republike Srbije (PDF) (in Serbian). Belgrade: Republički zavod za statistiku. p. 8–9. ISBN 978-86-6161-252-7. Retrieved 22 June 2024.