Serbian Chetnik Movement (1990)

The Serbian Chetnik Movement (Српски четнички покрет, Srpski četnički pokret) also known as the Chetnik Movement, is a Serbian nationalist and ultranationalist organization founded in 1990. It claims to be a continuation of the historical Chetnik movement, a Serbian nationalist paramilitary organization active during the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II.

The 1990 iteration of the movement emerged in the context of rising ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia and the lead-up to the Yugoslav Wars. It espoused a Greater Serbia ideology, advocating for the unification of all territories inhabited by Serbs into a single state. The movement was led by Vojislav Šešelj.

The Serbian Chetnik Movement was involved in paramilitary activities during the Yugoslav Wars, particularly in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its members were accused of war crimes, including ethnic cleansing and atrocities against non-Serb civilians. These accusations led to the indictment of Vojislav Šešelj by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Following the wars, the Serbian Chetnik Movement faced significant political decline. Šešelj eventually founded the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), and many members of the Chetnik Movement joined the SRS. The movement continued to exist in a diminished capacity, primarily as a marginal political organization. The ideology of the movement remains associated with Serbian nationalism and controversial aspects of the Yugoslav Wars.