From SDSM to the Serbian Democratic League: Saša Bogdanović Founds a Party, and Support at Its Congress Came From Vučić's SNS

For years Saša Bogdanović was an SDSM cadre: president of the party's municipal branch in Centar, director of the public company "Parking Lots of Centar Municipality", and from 2017 to 2021 mayor of Centar. Now he is returning to politics as president of his own party - the Serbian Democratic League.

The party's first electoral congress was held on the evening of October 9 in the hall of the Macedonian Philharmonic in Skopje. Delegates unanimously formed the Central and Supervisory Boards and adopted a draft coalition agreement, giving the president and the Central Board a mandate to negotiate and enter future political coalitions. With whom - so far, nobody has said.

Alongside representatives of Macedonian parties and public figures, the hall also had a guest from Belgrade: Nevena Đurić, vice-president of the Main Board of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). SNS is Serbia's ruling party, led for many years by Aleksandar Vučić. Bogdanović publicly thanked them for what he called strong support.

"This is not just a new political force, it is a historic renewal of the cooperation and tradition of the first Serbian League, founded in Skopje back in 1908. With organization, dignity and unity, we will protect our identity while respecting the identity of others!" Bogdanović said. He ended his post about the congress in Serbian: "Only united can we be strong!"

The party says it will act as a civic option, open to all ethnic communities. Back in March, when he announced the party, Bogdanović claimed he would not be addressing only Serbs. A civic option for everyone, with a name that invokes a national organization from 1908 and a guest from a neighboring country's ruling party in the hall - that is a combination that will need a good explanation.

The Serbian community has every right to organize politically. But when support for a new party in Macedonia arrives straight from the ruling party in Belgrade, the question is not ethnic, it is political: whose interests will that coalition mandate bring to the table - those of the citizens of Macedonia, or someone else's?