The Movement of Veterans (, PV) was a Serbian political party that existed from 2009 to about 2017. It was established after a split in the Movement of Veterans of Serbia (PVS) in late 2008.
The Movement of Veterans was led by Saša Dujović, who served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2008 to 2014 in the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).
Origins The Movement of Veterans of Serbia was established in 2002, with the stated goals of developing Serbia's democratic institutions and protecting the rights of Serbian military veterans.статут, , Party of Veterans of Serbia, accessed 6 September 2023. The PVS formed an alliance with the Socialist Party of Serbia for the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election; party leader Željko Vasiljević appeared on the SPS electoral list and was given an assembly mandate when the list won sixteen seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (11 Социјалистичка партија Србије), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: ВАСИЉЕВИЋ, ЖЕЉКО, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 6 September 2023.
Vasiljević again appeared on the SPS's list in the 2008 parliamentary election and received a mandate for a second term when the list won twenty seats. He resigned shortly thereafter to take a state secretary position in the Serbian government, and Dujović was chosen as his replacement in the assembly in September 2008.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године (ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ – 5 Социјалистичка партија Србије (СПС), - Партија уједињних пензионера Србије (ПУПС) - Јединствена Србија (ЈС)), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021.Жељко Васиљевић - председник Партије ватерана Србије, , Party of Veterans of Serbia, accessed 6 September 2023.Информације о одржаним седницама 2008. године (2. септембар 2008. године), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 15 July 2020. The SPS formed a coalition government with the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance after the 2008 election, and both Vasiljević and Dujović supported the ZES-led ministry in the 2008–12 term.
The PVS split into two groups in December 2008. The branch led by Vasiljević renamed itself as the Party of Veterans of Serbia.Саопштење 09.01.2009., , Party of Veterans of Serbia, accessed 6 September 2023."Uhapšeni zbog falsifikovanja potpisa", Mondo (Source: Beta), 16 March 2010, accessed 6 September 2023. Dujović's group became the Movement of Veterans, and he was formally chosen as its leader on 7 February 2009.Саша Дујовић - Председник Покрета ветерана, , Movement of Veterans, accessed 7 September 2023.
The Movement of Veterans considered itself as upholding the PVS's original goals and described itself as "a new-old political option that will fight for the rights of veterans in Serbia, their better social status, and a life worthy of man in the 21st century."O Покрету Ветерана, , Party of Veterans of Serbia, accessed 6 September 2023. Dujović remained a member of the Socialist Party caucus after founding the PV.
History Dujović was elected to a second term in the national assembly in the 2012 parliamentary election, once again on the list of the Socialist Party.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 ИВИЦА ДАЧИЋ - "СОЦИЈАЛИСТИЧКА ПАРТИЈА СРБИЈЕ (СПС), ПАРТИЈА УЈЕДИЊЕНИХ ПЕНЗИОНЕРА СРБИЈЕ (ПУПС), ЈЕДИНСТВЕНА СРБИЈА (ЈС)"), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 17 February 2017.SAŠA DUJOVIĆ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 September 2023. The Socialists formed a new administration with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and other parties, and he again supported the government in the assembly.
Dujović and United Peasant Party (USS) leader Milija Miletić signed a protocol in March 2012 for cooperation between their parties in the Serbian parliament.Aleksandar Kostić, "Savez USS i Pokreta veterana", Južne vesti, 4 March 2013, accessed 8 September 2023.
In December 2013, Dujović signed another cooperation agreement with Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Koštunica."Saradnja Saveza veterana i DSS", Novosti, 6 December 2013, accessed 7 September 2023. While he remained a member of the Socialist Party caucus, he later appeared in the thirty-first position on the DSS list in the 2014 parliamentary election."SPS: Dujović ostaje u klubu SPS-a", Radio Television of Serbia, 6 December 2013, accessed 8 September 2023.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Демократска странка Србије - Војислав Коштуница), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 4 June 2022. The list did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation, and his term in the assembly came to an end.
In late 2014, Dujović spoke against the Serbian government's proposed new law on veterans and disability protection, describing it as "devastating," and saying that veterans would not receive national recognition, veteran's allowance, health insurance, or other benefits."Pokret veterana: Zakon ne predviđa ni prava, ni beneficije", Južne vesti, 12 December 2014, accessed 8 September 2023.
Dujović joined the Serbian-Russian Movement (SRP) on its formation in late 2015, and the Movement of Veterans later announced its cooperation with the new party in the 2016 parliamentary election.B. Cvejić, "Sve četiri ruske stranke hoće na izbore", Danas, 22 March 2016."Srpsko-ruski pokret i Pokret veterana zajedno izlaze na izbore", Radio Television of Serbia, 19 April 2016. The SRP list did not cross the electoral threshold.
In October 2017, the PV took part in what was described as a parliament of right-wing Serbian political parties."Održan prvi Sabor srpske desnice", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 14 October 2017, accessed 8 September 2023.S. Čongradin, "Vučić plaća svoju desnicu", Danas, 2 November 2017, accessed 8 December 2023. Dujović became vice-president of the far-right Serbian Right party on its formation in January 2018, and the PV seems to have dissolved at around this time."Izabrano rukovodstvo i doneta odluka o izlasku na beogradske izbore", Novosti, 11 January 2018, accessed 7 September 2023.
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