Sovereignists (Serbia)

During a press conference on 30 November 2021, Saša Radulović, the leader of the Enough is Enough (DJB) political party, announced the formation the "Sovereignists", initially as a political agreement between DJB and Healthy Serbia (ZS).[1] DJB had previously used the "Sovereignists" label, including in the 2020 parliamentary election.[2] The agreement was mainly formed in order to lower the potential electoral fraud for the January 2022 constitutional referendum, by signing up election controllers.[3] Milan Stamatović stated that one of the priorities of the Sovereignists would be to protect national interests.[4] DJB claimed that the constitutional referendum was orchestrated at the will of the European Union and George Soros.[5] The party has had called other opposition parties to participate in the campaign by stating their opposition to the constitutional changes.[6] In December, the agreement also gained support from anti-vax activist Jovana Stojković and Čedomir Antić, while Radulović stated that the signatory parties might participate in the general elections in a joint coalition.[7][8]

Following the constitutional referendum in January 2022, the Sovereignists have claimed that 600,000 votes were falsified, and that they would not recognize the results of the referendum.[9][10] An appeal was filed to the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK), although it ended up being rejected.[11] Some of its members participated in a protest which occurred a day after the referendum.[12]

In late January, the coalition was finalized, and Radulović announced their joint participation in the general elections.[13] Its parliamentary list was announced by RIK on 23 February.[14] Five days later, the Sovereignists have had announced Branka Stamenković as their presidential candidate.[15] Since then, the Sovereignists have campaigned in cities across Serbia.[16]