People's Movement for the State

The People's Movement for the State (Народни покрет за државу, abbr. NPZD), also referred to as the Movement for the People and the State (Покрет за народ и државу, abbr. PZND), are the working names of the political movement in Serbia initiated by Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia and then-president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in March 2023. Vučić defined it as a "supra-party movement" that would include political parties, such as SNS and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and other movements, associations, and individuals. He organised rallies to promote the movement in March and May 2023.

Despite not having a programme, the movement has been described as populist, centrist, or not strictly ideologically defined. Political parties such as SNS, Social Democratic Party of Serbia, Movement of Socialists, United Serbia, PUPS – Solidarity and Justice, Serbian Party Oathkeepers, and Greens of Serbia have expressed interest in joining the movement. Inside SPS, there have been voices supportive and opposing of the movement, though Ivica Dačić, the president of SPS, supports the inclusion of SPS in the movement. All the aforementioned parties, including SPS, contested the 2024 Belgrade City Assembly election as part of the Belgrade Tomorrow electoral list, in which they won 64 out of 110 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade. Miloš Vučević, the president of SNS, said that the electoral list was the realisation of the movement.

Background
The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was founded in 2008 as a split from the Serbian Radical Party, a far-right political party. It was led by Tomislav Nikolić until the 2012 elections, when he resigned from the position of president of SNS after being elected president of Serbia. Aleksandar Vučić succeeded him as president of SNS, while in 2017, he also succeeded Nikolić as president of Serbia after the 2017 presidential election.

In the 2022 general elections, SNS received fewer votes and seats than in the 2020 parliamentary election. Then in September 2022, Vučić hinted at the potential creation of a political bloc or a movement that would act as the rebranded SNS. Nova and Vreme news magazines compared the announced movement to the All-Russia People's Front, saying that "the only common goal of the blocs is to strengthen [Vučić's and Vladimir Putin's] personal ratings" (zajedničko im je i to što je pravi cilj, zapravo, jačanje njihovog ličnog rejtinga). The movement was initially referred to as the Movement for Serbia, Serb Bloc, and My Serbia by the media. Since then, the People's Movement for the State (NPZD) and the Movement for the People and the State have both been the working names of the movement.

Formation
On 8 March 2023, Vučić announced the formation of the People's Movement for the State (NPZD). Political scientist Boban Stojanović described the formation of the NPZD as "the preparation for the next snap parliamentary elections". Vučić affirmed that SNS would not be dissolved and that the NPZD would instead act as a "supra-party movement" (nadstranački pokret). Vučić organised rallies to promote the movement in Vranje on 11 March, and in Pančevo on 19 May. Miloš Vučević, the minister of defence, succeeded Vučić as president of SNS on 27 May.

Initially, it was announced that the movement would be formalised on Vidovdan; however, shortly before Vidovdan, Vučić announced that it would instead be formalised by September 2023. Later in August, Vučević and Darko Glišić, the president of the executive board of SNS, announced that it would be formalised in early autumn. At the session of the main board of SNS, which was held in October 2023, there were no mentions of the NPZD. However, in late October 2023, Vučić announced that the NPZD will be formed "in the coming period" (u narednom periodu). Parliamentary and Belgrade City Assembly elections were held in Serbia in December 2023. In the parliamentary election, SNS re-gained its parliamentary majority, while the Belgrade City Assembly election resulted in a hung parliament. Election observers declared that electoral fraud occurred on election day.

Vučić revived the question about the formation of the NPZD in February 2024; he said that the movement "should continue the economic growth of Serbia and defend [Serbia's] national and state interests" (koji će imati snage da ubrza ekonomski rast Srbije i odbrani naše nacionalne i državne interese). He did not announce when the official formation of NPZD would take place. This time, analyst Dejan Bursać described NPZD as a "marketing trick" (marketinški trik) and as an attempt to divert from then-ongoing themes regarding the European Parliament adopting a resolution on the irregularities that occurred in the 2023 elections. Đorđe Vukadinović of Nova srpska politička misao argued the same. Political consultant Nikola Tomić said that the cause of the formation of NPZD is the attempt of Vučić and SNS to consolidate power. Psychologist Jovan Byford described NPZD "as another attempt a tundermining democracy in Serbia and creating a one-party system" (još jedan pokušaj podrivanja demokratije u Srbiji i stvaranja jednopartijskog sistema).

For the 2024 Belgrade City Assembly election, SNS formed a joint electoral list, the Belgrade Tomorrow, with its old partners, but this time also including the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and Serbian Party Oathkeepers (SSZ), on 7 April. The electoral list also included Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS), Movement of Socialists (PS), United Serbia (JS), PUPS – Solidarity and Justice (PUPS), Healthy Serbia (ZS), Greens of Serbia (Zeleni), Serbian Radical Party, and Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. Vučević said that the electoral list is effectively the realisation of the movement. Journalist Zoran Panović said that with the formation of the electoral list, the NPZD was also effectively created, despite not having an official announcement. In the election, the Belgrade Tomorrow electoral list won 52 percent of the popular vote and 64 out of 110 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade.

Ideology and platform
Vučić and Vučević described the NPZD as a "state-building movement" (državotvorni pokret). In June 2023, Vučić announced that they would also publish their political platform "in 10 or 15 days" (za deset ili 15 dana). However, as of August 2023, the platform has not been published yet.

According to the newspaper Danas, the movement would likely promote "responsible national and civic positions" (odgovorne nacionalne ali i građanske politike) and economically liberal policies. Bojan Klačar, the executive director of CeSID, stated for Blic that the movement would most likely be ideologically oriented towards the centre-right but that it would lean closer to the political centre. Nova reported that the movement would be positioned in the centre, that it would support the accession of Serbia to the European Union, and that it would oppose sanctions on Russia related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Balkan Insight has described the movement as centrist.

Deutsche Welle also reported that the NPZD would represent the "third way" (treći put) in Serbian politics, while Nataša Anđelković, a BBC News journalist, concluded that its orientation has not been strictly defined. Political scientist Věra Stojarová noted that NPZD could adopt populist elements due to its proposed name, while political scientist Vujo Ilić described the formation of the movement as the "epitome of catch-all politics" (otelotvorenje catch-all-a). Filip Ejdus, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, described NPZD as populist. BBC News said that NPZD is not ideologically strictly defined.

Euronews said that with the creation of the movement, politically extremist and pro-Russian individuals could be excluded from taking part in the movement. Regarding this, Vučić said "We will not let you destroy Serbia, neither you extremists on the left, nor you extremists on the right. We want to go straight into the future." (Ne damo vam da uništite Srbiju, ni vama ekstremistima s leve, ni vama ekstremistima s desne strane. Hoćemo da idemo pravo u budućnost).

Organisation
At its rallies, the "Serbia dreams and its dreams come true" (Srbija sanja i snove ostvaruje) slogan was used.

Leadership
Nova reported that the movement would not officially have a president but that Vučić would instead act as its representative; Danas reported that Vučić would preside over a body that would include leaders of other political parties. Political scientist Mladen Mrdalj said that Vučić "will try to change the leadership machinery of SNS" (pokušati da presvuče svoju partijsku mašineriju) with the formation of the bloc. After his election as president of SNS, Vučević said that Vučić would be the leader of the NPZD.

Potential members
Political commentator Predrag Rajić said that "the most logical thing for the movement would be to include ruling parties" (najlogičnije bilo da u tom bloku budu partije vladajuće većine); he named the SPS, SDPS, PS, and JS as potential members. Political scientist Zoran Stojiljković said that it could also include minor parties like the Serbian Renewal Movement and individuals that are supportive of Vučić but were not directly involved in politics before. Danas reported that PUPS and Strength of Serbia Movement could also be potential members of the NPZD. Klačar said the bloc could be "widely spaced" (široko postavljen) and that it could exclude far-right parties, while Predrag Lacmanović of the Faktor Plus non-governmental organisation said that opposition parties also might get invited to join the bloc. Vučić stated that the bloc "also needs Bosniaks, Hungarians, Roma, Slovaks, and Romanians in it" (u njemu su nam potrebni i Bošnjaci, Mađari, Romi, Slovaci, Rumuni) and that independent individuals would be part of the bloc. He also saw SPS as a potential member. Goran Vesić, the minister of construction, transport, and infrastructure, added that non-governmental organisations could also take part in the movement.

At the party conference on 10 March 2023, SNS stated its support for the formation of the NPZD, while after Vučević's election as president of SNS, it was confirmed that SNS would take part in the movement. Rasim Ljajić, the leader of SDPS, said that "it is logical for his party to be part of the new movement" (logično da ... stranka bude deo novog pokreta), while SPS, JS, PUPS, and the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina stated their support for the creation of the movement. In an August 2023 interview for Politika, Ljajić said that "[SDPS] certainly expects talks with our coalition partner, the Serbian Progressive Party" ([SDPS] svakako očekuje razgovore s našim koalicionim partnerom Srpskom naprednom strankom) and that he sees the potential of the movement to be the "barrier to any extremism, especially right-wing extremism" (ja ga vidim kao branu svakom ekstremizmu, naročito desničarskom). SNS held negotiations with Milan Stamatović's ZS about joining the movement in October 2023. The SSZ initially declined to take part in the movement; however, in February 2024 Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, the party's president, confirmed that negotiations were held regarding the party joining the NPZD. Klačar argued that with the addition of Đurđević Stamenkovski and SSZ, the NPZD could receive votes from the right-wing bloc. Aleksandar Vulin, the former president of PS, also said in February 2024 that PS would join the NPZD if it received an invitation.

Ivica Dačić, the leader of SPS, added that with the formation of the movement, the cooperation between SPS and SNS could be put on an even higher stage. A faction opposed to joining the NPZD was formed inside SPS with individuals such as vice-president Predrag J. Marković, who has said that SPS would lose its identity if it joined the movement. Vladan Zagrađanin also said that if SPS joined, it would "renounce everything that it had built up over the years" (odrekla svega što je građeno godinama). Besides Dačić, Đorđe Milićević and Snežana Paunović have also been supportive of SPS joining NPZD. During his visit to Germany, Milićević also called Serbs that live in Hamburg to support the movement. Paunović said that SPS joining the NPZD would not "threaten the party's identity" (ne bi ugrozio stranački identitet) and that they would "put ideological differences aside in order to achieve a common goal" (staviti po strani ideološke razlike i objediniti se oko zajedničkog cilja). Dragan Marković, the president of JS and a coalition partner of SPS, also expressed his support for joining the NPZD. The Zeleni, another partner of SPS, expressed their willingness to join the NPZD in February 2024.

Opposition parties such as the New Democratic Party of Serbia, Party of Freedom and Justice, Democratic Party, Dveri, and Movement of Free Citizens criticised its formation or declined to take part in the movement. Enis Imamović, a Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak member of parliament, said that "the movement does not provide answers to questions of vital importance for Bosniaks" (niti daje odgovore na druga pitanja od vitalnog značaja za Bošnjake), while the Justice and Reconciliation Party said that it would consider participating in the movement. The We – Voice from the People refused to comment on the matter.