The Serbian government is silent about the minister's support for the right-wing in Germany ahead of the parliamentary elections in that country.

Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, who is responsible for the family care department in Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's cabinet, announced that she will attend the final election rally of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on February 21st "on behalf of her party".

The Serbian party Zavetnici and the German AfD are linked by their far-right ideology and opposition to liberal values. Although the leaders of the two parties have met before, this is Djordjevic Stamenkovski's first endorsement of the AfD since it joined the ruling coalition.

“It’s a message that the authorities are trying to build good relations with the AfD, but it’s still dangerous to do it directly, so they’re doing it through Zavetnik, or rather, through Milica Stamenkovski, they’re sending that message of support,” says Predrag Petrovic from the non-governmental Belgrade Center for Security Policy.

The office of the outgoing prime minister and leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party did not respond to the question of whether Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski's participation in the AfD election rally has the support of the government in Belgrade.

The mayor of Zavetnik did not respond to calls and messages from Radio Free Europe (RFE), and the AfD had not responded to questions about the speakers at the election rally by the time this article was published.

What connects the far right from Serbia and the EU?

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) also had previous contacts with German right-wing extremists. Senior official and current Foreign Minister Marko Đurić met with AfD representative Armin-Paulus Hampel in 2019.

Djuric was then the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, and he spoke with Hampel in Belgrade about the "situation in Kosovo," a brief statement from the SNS said.

The anti-immigration party is seeing a surge in the polls and is expected to achieve its best result yet in the German elections on February 23.

Hundreds of thousands of people recently took to the streets of Berlin and Munich to oppose the possibility of the far-right coming to power.

Why is Milica Đurđević at the AfD rally?

The chairwoman of the Zavetnik Party, in a statement published on her party's website on February 17, stated that she was traveling to Germany at the invitation of AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla.

"I am grateful for the invitation and the opportunity to support the AfD on behalf of my party and I believe on behalf of the majority of Serbia, which has proven to be a sincere and reliable friend of the Serbian people through its political and parliamentary work to date," said Đurđević.

There is no research to support Milica Đurđević's belief that the majority of Serbian citizens will support the AfD. She also said that she would call on the Serbian community in Germany to support the AfD in the elections and that the friendship with that party "is based on the values ​​of preserving family and tradition."

"For us, cooperation with the AfD is valuable, among other things, because it is the political party that submitted an initiative in the Bundestag to withdraw recognition of the independence of the fake state of Kosovo," Đurđević told TV Prva on February 20.

The AfD parliamentary group called on the German federal government in 2023 to "revoke recognition of Kosovo."

In addition to denying Kosovo's independence, the Conventions in Serbia are also advocating for the repeal of the Brussels Agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. They oppose Serbia's entry into the European Union and advocate an alliance with Russia.

This far-right party did not cross the threshold as an opposition party in the 2023 elections, but later supported the ruling party and Milica Đurđević was given a ministerial post in the government.

They were formed in 2012 after a section of the membership defected from the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, whose president at the time was Vojislav Seselj, convicted of war crimes by the Hague Tribunal. Supporters describe the AfD as "the leading sovereign option for state-building in Germany".

"Emphasis on identity and the fight against liberal-democratic values ​​is the bond that unites these two parties," Predrag Petrovic of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy told Radio Free Europe.

What do they say in the AfD?

The AfD did not respond to Radio Free Europe's questions about the criteria used to select speakers at the campaign rally and what the cooperation with Zavetniki in Serbia reflects.

In November 2023, while her party was still in opposition, Milica Đurđević met with AfD leader Tina Krupal in the Bundestag.

At that meeting, they agreed on a critical stance towards the policy represented by the president of the European Commission and exchanged views on the "deep crisis of the European Union".

The parties are also linked by anti-immigration policies and advocacy for the denial of rights to sexual minorities. Serbia has not introduced them and the AfD in Germany is calling for the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

The party advocates the reintroduction of a national currency and a "freer association of European nations", although it does not explicitly advocate Germany's exit from the EU.

Far-right support for Serbian authorities

The AfD MEP was one of the far-right representatives who sent messages of support to the authorities in Belgrade on February 11 during a debate on the situation in Serbia.

The support came amid mass protests in which student-led demonstrators are demanding responsibility for the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy.

"The unrest in Serbia in recent weeks is part of a globalist network that is organizing protests around the world. Donald Trump is putting an end to all of this," AfD MP Petr Bystron said in Strasbourg.

He added that if the government in Serbia needs to change, it should be done in democratic elections, not "in riots instigated from abroad."

"Globalists do not want independent nations, but Serbs are a proud people and will not be dictated to," said Bajstron.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vuçiq also claims that the protests are the result of an attempt by "Western centers of power" to carry out a "color revolution," without providing evidence.

Mass protests in Serbia over the collapse of the concrete cover of the Novi Sad Railway Station and the deaths of 15 people are being called an attempt at a "color revolution" and overthrow of the state by Serbian authorities.

Belgrade and Moscow together against 'color revolutions'

"I assume that the government is supporting the growth of the AfD and therefore they want to have a point of contact and connection with them. A party like Zavetnik is suitable to build a bridge towards a possible political future in which the AfD would have a stronger role," says Predrag Petrovic.

He adds that he does not believe that cooperation with the far right will affect Serbia's declared path towards membership in the European Union.

"This is another signal from Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq "that he has other partners he can rely on and with whom he is willing to build good relations. This is an intimidation strategy he has used before," says Petrovic.

Who else supports the AfD?

Alice Weidel, the party's first candidate for chancellor, has embraced the term "emigration" because the party calls for mass deportations of people who have no legal right to be in Germany. The German intelligence agency is monitoring the party over suspicions of right-wing extremism.

AfD branches in three eastern German states have been labeled as “proven right-wing extremist” groups. The AfD disputes such assessments.

The party has support across Germany and is strongest in the former communist and less prosperous eastern regions. Its rise coincided with the rise of the far right in many European countries, including Austria's Freedom Party and France's National Alliance, with which it has much in common.

The AfD is not part of the "Patriots for Europe" group in the European Parliament.

The party was expelled from one of the previous coalitions after its leading candidate at the time, Maximilian Krach, declared that not all Nazi SS soldiers "were necessarily criminals."

The AfD has found a supporter in billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of US President Donald Trump.

Musk previously declared that "only the AfD can save Germany," and in late January he gave them his support via video link at a campaign rally.

At one of the last rallies before the vote in Germany, support for them, along with Milica Djordjevic from Serbia, also came from Bulgaria. One of the speakers will be the leader of the far-right Preporod party, Kostadin Kostadinov.

This pro-Russian party and its leader have often been criticized for crossing the line of political decency and violent rhetoric.

Human rights activists, led by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, have demanded a ban on Preporod, claiming that the party and Kostadinov "aim to destroy the democratic legal order."

"Preporod systematically uses anti-Semitism, inciting hatred and intolerance towards refugees, Roma, as well as representatives of the LGBTI community," the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee said.

The party was founded in 2014 with the slogan "Believe in Bulgaria" and is currently the third largest party in parliament. /REL