EUPopLink Country report - Serbia

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  1. Andrijana Lazarevic ,  
  2. Aleksandra Markovic
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Abstract

This country report, prepared as part of the EUPopLink COST Action, explores Serbia’s political dynamics in the context of European integration and Euroscepticism. It traces the rise of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012 and its impact on Serbia’s political landscape, with a focus on populist actors and their relationship with the EU. The report highlights the complex Euroscepticism in Serbia, where public support for EU membership has fluctuated and remains influenced by national sovereignty concerns, especially in relation to Kosovo. Populist parties, including SNS, Dveri, and Zavetnici, exhibit varying degrees of opposition to the EU, from pragmatic Euroscepticism to hard rejection, while balancing their domestic and foreign policy priorities. The analysis examines the shifting nature of populist Euroscepticism in Serbia, illustrating how it influences the country’s EU integration process, political discourse, and electoral strategies.

Corresponding author
Andrijana Lazarevic
0000-0003-3283-7721
Grant information

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research & Innovation as part of the COST Action CA23102 ‘Linking euroscepticism and populism: causes and consequences’ (EUPopLink), as supported by the COST Association (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Copyright
© 2026 Andrijana Lazarevic (Corresponding Author, Co-Author); Aleksandra Markovic (Co-Author) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Amendment

This revised version introduces several substantive and structural improvements compared with the previously published version. First, the introduction now explains why 2012 is used as the analytical starting point, presenting it as a turning point in party competition, state-party relations and the institutionalisation of populist discourse, rather than as an abrupt shift towards Euroscepticism. 
Second, the selection of political actors is clarified, including the position of the Green-Left Front and the New Democratic Party of Serbia. The electoral context has been added to distinguish between dominant, parliamentary and marginal actors and to clarify the practical significance of different forms of Euroscepticism. The discussion of SNS now further examines the coexistence of pro-European and sovereigntist messages and its possible implications for voter uncertainty and declining enthusiasm for EU accession.
Third, the revised version expands the analysis of coalition dynamics and the mainstreaming of populist frames, particularly through the changing position of Zavetnici before and after entering government. The section on lithium-related mobilisation has also been strengthened through engagement with recent research on environmental protest, democratic accountability and transnational narratives.
Finally, the manuscript has undergone language and stylistic editing, citation and reference standardisation, and targeted reductions of repetition. These revisions improve the conceptual clarity, empirical contextualisation and analytical coherence of the country report while preserving its central argument concerning the instrumental and hybrid character of populist Euroscepticism in Serbia.

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Authors & roles

Andrijana Lazarevic

Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Beograd, 11000, Serbia

Roles
Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0003-3283-7721

Aleksandra Markovic

Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Institute for Sociological Research, Beograd, 11000, Serbia

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-5219-4220

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