Political analyst and European affairs expert Dušan Reljić has argued that Serbia’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) share an ideology that devalues human dignity and should therefore both be banned.
In an analysis published on Substack, Reljić, the former head of the Brussels office of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), drew parallels between the two parties and called for legal proceedings to prohibit their activities.
Reljić referred to a 1,500-page report published in June by the German Society for Civil Rights, which concluded that AfD was demonstrably unconstitutional and argued that a ban application would likely succeed before Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
According to the analysis, a petition calling for AfD to be banned gathered more than 1.3 million signatures within days, while more than 1,000 lawyers, judges and prosecutors signed an open letter urging the Bundestag to initiate proceedings against the party.
Reljić argued that AfD’s nationalism and xenophobia threaten Germany’s democratic foundations and peaceful coexistence in a country where approximately one-third of the population has a migrant background.
He contrasted this with Serbia, where, he argued, the SNS had spent 14 years implementing similar political ideas while in power.
Reljić urges legal action against SNS
The analyst also referred to the SNS’s defeat in Serbia’s October 25 parliamentary elections, claiming that allegations of criminal activity, corruption and links to organized crime involving members of the party’s leadership were increasingly coming to light.
Reljić warned that the political changes achieved by students and other pro-democracy citizens could remain at risk as long as the SNS continued operating.
Describing the party’s rule as a “kakistocracy” — a system of government in which the least qualified or least suitable people hold power — he called on Serbian lawyers, civil society activists and other interested groups to begin legal proceedings seeking a ban on the SNS.
He argued that such efforts should begin before a new parliament with a democratic majority is formed.
Reljić also criticized international political figures and institutions that he said had previously supported the SNS leadership, including the European People’s Party (EPP), the president of the European Commission, the current French president and several former German chancellors.
According to Reljić, their recent silence reflects an expectation that public attention will quickly move on as new controversies emerge.
Warning over AfD proceedings
Reljić stressed that legal proceedings concerning AfD should also be brought to a successful conclusion in German courts as soon as possible.
He warned that failure to do so would leave German citizens who support democracy facing what he described as an increasingly serious threat.
The proposals to ban either party remain political and legal demands advanced by Reljić. Any prohibition would have to be considered and decided through the respective countries’ constitutional and judicial procedures.
