Leviathan Movement

Leviathan Movement Покрет Левијатан
President	Pavle Bihali
Founded	2015
Registered	2020
Headquarters	Belgrade
Ideology	Neo-fascism
Political position	Far-right
Colours	Black
National Assembly	0 / 250
Assembly of Vojvodina	0 / 120
City Assembly of Belgrade	0 / 110
Website
levijatan.org
Politics of Serbia Political parties Elections

The Leviathan Movement (Serbian: Покрет Левијатан, romanized: Pokret Levijatan) is a neo-fascist political organisation in Serbia, that presents itself as an animal rights organisation.^[1] It is led by Pavle Bihali.

History

The organisation was formed in 2015 as an animal rights group, focused on safeguarding of stray dogs.^[2] In 2016, the movement became popular when videos of the members of organisation rescuing animals showed up on social media, as well as videos of them offering compensation for information on animal abusers.^[3] Initially, the movement only focused on animal rights issues, exposing animal abusers, and taking their animals away from them.^[4] However, the movement has shifted from solely being an animal rights group to openly talking about political issues, mainly illegal immigration.^[5] In 2020, the organisation announced that they will be forming a party that will participate in the 2020 parliamentary election, in a coalition with the far-right anti-vax "I live for Serbia" movement.

Its leader, Pavle Bihali, appeared under a Russian minority ballot list for the 2022 election which was ultimately rejected by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) because it did not collect enough valid signatures. According to CeSID, the ballot list did not support minority rights, but far-right politics.^[6] This was later overturned by the Constitutional Court, and on 22 March, RIK confirmed the ballot list.^[7] The list did not enter parliament.

In July 2023, the Constitutional Court of Serbia received a proposal from the Public Prosecutor's Office to ban Leviathan. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office of Serbia, Leviathan is a "paramilitary citizens association" and has been "aiming at violating guaranteed human or minority rights and caused racial, national and religious hatred".^[8]

Ideology and controversies

Leviathan has been described as neo-fascist,^{[5][9][10][11][12]} neo-Nazi,^[13][14] and alt-right party,^[15] and it is positioned on the far-right on the political spectrum.^{[10][16][17][12]} It has been heavily criticised for its anti-human rights behaviour.^[18] It has been also described as a satellite party of the Serbian Progressive Party.^[19][20] In November 2018, the leaders of the movement, Pavle Bihali and Aleksandar Buhanac were arrested for making threats on Facebook, but soon after they were released.^[21] Even after this, he continued threatening people on social media, including minors.^[9] Leviathan has targeted minorities (mainly Roma), immigrants, the LGBT community, and Leviathan's political opponents.^[12][22] Its rhetoric has been described as xenophobic.^[12]

In April 2020, members of the movement took the family dog of a Romani family away from them, claiming that the dog was abused and that it was used for dog fights. However this claim was denied by the people living in the neighbourhood.^[23] Not long after, a member of Leviathan drove through the gate of a refugee camp in Obrenovac, threatening to run over the refugees. After the attacker was arrested, the members of the movement protested in front of the camp.^[24]

In October 2020, police in Belgrade have arrested six members of Leviathan who are suspected of beating one person earlier that month.^[25]

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

National Assembly of Serbia

Year	Leader	Popular vote	% of popular vote	# of seats	Seat change	Coalitions	Government
2020	Pavle Bihali	22,691	0.7%	0 / 250		with I live for Serbia	No seats
2022		9,569	0.25%	0 / 250		Serbo-Russian Movement (As part of Russian Minority Alliance)	No seats

See also

• Far-right politics in Serbia

References

1. Colborne, Michael (18 June 2020). "Levijatan: Serbian Animal Rights Vigilantes Go To The Polls". Bellingcat.
2. "Razvojni put Levijatana: Od brige za pse do potere za migrantima". Istinomer (in Serbian). 29 May 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
3. "Razvojni put Levijatana: Od brige za pse do potere za migrantima". Istinomer (in Serbian). 29 May 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
4. Petface (4 January 2018). "LEVIJATAN: "Imamo svedočenja o silovanju i mučenju pasa, ali meštani ćute iz straha"!". Petface.net. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
5. Sovilj, Miodrag (20 May 2020). "Ljubitelji životinja koji vređaju žrtve fašista - šta je, zapravo, Levijatan?" [Animal lovers who insult victims of fascists - what exactly is Leviathan?] (in Serbian). N1. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020.
6. "Pojedine stranke glume manjine da bi lakše "uskočile" u poslaničke klupe". 021.rs (in Serbian). 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
7. "Ruski manjinski savez biće 19. lista za narodne poslanike, počinje štampanje glasačkih listića". 021.rs (in Serbian). 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
8. Kamenkovic, Sonja (31 July 2023). "Ustavni sud Srbije dobio predlog tužilaštva za zabranu Levijatana". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
9. "Pavle Bihali je spojio nemoguće, jevrejsko poreklo i nacističke simbole" [Pavle Bihali combined the impossible, Jewish origin and Nazi symbols]. NOVA portal (in Serbian). 15 February 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
10. "Zašto je opasno ne shvatiti koaliciju "Pokret Levijatan – živim za Srbiju" ozbiljno". masina.rs (in Serbian). Mašina. 18 June 2020.
11. Eror, Aleks (11 February 2022). "Toksična mešavina nacionalizma i prava životinja u Srbiji" [A toxic mixture of nationalism and animal rights in Serbia]. Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
12. Rudić, Filip (27 July 2023). "Istorija Levijatana: Od prava životinja do ekstremne desnice i izbornog neuspeha". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
13. Mulhall, Joe; Khan-Ruf, Safya; Bego, Fabio (2021). "Spotlight on the Western Balkans: Far-right trends in the region". State of Hate: Far-Right Extremism in Europe. London: Hope Not Hate; Amadeu Antonio Foundation; EXPO Foundation. p. 108.
14. Djukanovic, Vladan; Djureinovic, Jelena; Momcilovic, Predrag (23 October 2020). "In 'Far-Right Ecologism', European Extremists Pursue Broader Appeal". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
15. "Far-Right Exploiting Pandemic to Spread Hate, in the Balkans Too". Balkan Insight. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
16. "Fašistički poklič "Srbija Srbima!"". balkans.aljazeera.net (in Serbian). Al Jazeera. 29 June 2019.
17. "Far-right ideas have grown 'exponentially' in the UK". TRT World. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
18. "Pokret Levijatan poziva na linč dece i ovo je moj odgovor, ipak nemam 14 godina". Noizz.rs (in Serbian). 10 February 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
19. "Neki optužuju Levijatan za saradnju sa SNS". Danas (in Serbian). 22 April 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
20. "ONI VOLE ŽIVOTINJE: Ljubitelji Miloševića, Arkanovog kuma i kriminalaca gostuju na WMF-u u Rovinju". Lupiga (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 December 2021.
21. "Vođe "Levijatana" uhapšene pa puštene". www.novosti.rs (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
22. Bogdanović, Nevena (18 July 2023). "Šta se zna o predlogu za zabranu ekstremno desničarskog Levijatana u Srbiji?". Radio Free Europe (in Serbian). Retrieved 6 October 2023.
23. "Levijatan i dalje "posećuje" Rome i oduzima životinje". Mašina. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
24. N.N.G, J. O. (13 May 2020). "SRAMNI PROTEST U OBRENOVCU Ultradesničari daju podršku članu Levijatana koji je upao u prihvatni centar i tako nastavljaju da ŠIRE MRŽNJU". Blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 9 June 2020.
25. Beta, Piše (14 October 2020). "Uhapšeno šest članova Levijatana zbog sumnje da su pretukli jednu osobu". Dnevni list Danas (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 October 2020.