Written by Boban Batrićević
Are the Parallels Justified? That’s the Question.
At first glance, comparing Adolf Hitler’s party to that of Andrija Mandić may seem exaggerated or sensationalist. But beneath the surface, certain structural similarities and historical echoes reveal unsettling parallels between the rise of German National Socialism and the prolonged, metastasizing role of Nova Srpska Demokratija (NSD) in contemporary Montenegro. In both cases, these ideological movements sought not just political power, but the soul of the nation. And then, they struck.
Montenegro’s Weimar Complex: When You Let the Monster Into the Hallway
In 1933, Germany witnessed a dangerous kind of political opportunism that paved the way for the Nazis. A weary, compromised, and apathetic Weimar elite believed that “the Bohemian corporal” (as President Hindenburg mockingly called Hitler) could be kept in check by letting him into the corridors of power. But once inside, Hitler’s paramilitary SA squads made it clear what “stabilization” really meant: the streets became an extension of the party, and violence a political tool. The state was seized almost overnight.
Montenegro, in a grotesque parallel, faces a similar situation. Segments of the ruling pro-European establishment, including the so-called “pro-Montenegrin” actors who helped unseat the DPS in 2020, believed that radicalism could be tamed through institutional inclusion. That’s how NSD (formerly part of the DF bloc) found its way into the system. The result? Andrija Mandić is now Speaker of Parliament and a central figure in government. Instead of pacifying extremism, they installed the ideological and operational heart of a Greater Serbian, clerical, authoritarian project at the core of Montenegrin politics.
NSDAP and NSD: More Than Just Similar Letters
The Nazi party’s acronym was NSDAP. Nova Srpska Demokratija is NSD. In the Nazi version, “AP” stood for “Workers’ Party”; ironically, NSD has long been in coalition with Montenegro’s Workers’ Party.
But beyond the acronym lies a deeper symbolism. Hitler often invoked his wartime service in Flanders and France to boost his legitimacy; it was a core part of his mythos. Likewise, Mandić’s military experience, specifically, his role in fighting NATO in 1999, has become a badge of honor among his supporters. NSD has made it central to their narrative.
It’s also worth noting that Nazism emerged from Germany’s humiliation after WWI. NSD’s ideology grew from the defeat of Milošević’s Greater Serbia project in the 1990s. Both follow the same psychological pattern: a loss reframed as betrayal, a call for a “second half” to “right the wrong.”
Just as Hitler organized fellow veterans into the SA, his private militia for street violence and terror, Mandić has his loyalists from the infamous “Seventh Battalion.” Known for harassing Muslims and Albanians during the wars of the '90s, that unit later morphed into a civilian arm of NSD, providing not just physical support but serving as a symbol of their willingness to use violence in the name of an ideology fundamentally opposed to modern Montenegro’s values.
Propaganda + Terror = Nazism
As Ernst Nolte observed, Nazism was more than an ideology; it was a practice. A blend of crude propaganda and organized terror. The Nazi elite included failed intellectuals, conspiracy theorists, occultists, frustrated artists, alcoholic veterans, and petty criminals. They found purpose in a doctrine that demonized enemies and legitimized violence.
Montenegro, while far removed from interwar Germany, has produced its cast of characters: Budimir Aleksić, Bećir Vuković, Željko Nikčević, figures who channel street-level resentment, lacking intellectual depth but overflowing with frustration, hatred, and nationalism. Like their Nazi predecessors, they don’t debate opponents; they dehumanize them. Behind the scenes, criminal groups loyal to their cause assault dissenters, like the recent brutal attack on the mayor of Budva. When words fail, they resort to force, not out of panic, but as a calculated strategy of fear. Terror, once again, becomes a tool of control.
Myths, Conspiracies, and Primitive Politics
Hitler’s antisemitism was built on the myth of a “Jewish conspiracy” against the German people. For NSD and its allies, that myth has evolved into a belief in a Western conspiracy against “their” nation, complete with narratives about endangered identity and constant interference from embassies and NGOs. (You can guess who they believe the real targets are.)
Nazism was obsessed with redrawing borders and uniting all Germans in one state. NSD champions the “integral unity” of Serbs across the Balkans, disregarding neighboring states’ sovereignty. In practice, it’s a slow-motion plan to redraw borders, more methodical, but no less dangerous. This is why Mandić, as Speaker of Parliament, frequently appears at nationalist gatherings where new Balkan maps are imagined.
Like the Nazis, NSD manipulates the past. They appropriate Montenegrin heritage, deny the existence of a Montenegrin nation, falsify history, and attempt to recast every national symbol as “theirs.” A civic society is replaced with an ethnic one. These leaders don’t carry tradition forward; they invent it. Just as Hitler fabricated Aryan myths, Mandić and his clique, backed by aligned religious institutions, manufacture a regional “folk” identity.
Primitive by Design
What cannot be concealed, no matter how polished the rhetoric, is the raw primitiveness of it all. Nazism was crude, anti-intellectual, and built on slogans and authoritarian cults. So is Mandić’s movement. This isn’t conservatism, it’s anti-intellectualism, embodied by figures like Đurović, Šubara, and Vučurović.
When the Baton Replaces Words
At this point, Andrija Mandić is no longer just a political figure; he’s a mechanism. He no longer bothers with staged performances of tolerance. His supporters now beat citizens and opposition leaders. His ideology, denying Montenegro’s independence, expressing racism toward Montenegrins, and inflaming regional tensions, can no longer be treated as part of a legitimate political spectrum. When violence replaces dialogue, this is no longer politics; it’s the onset of deep instability.
Not always armed, but always destructive.
Removing the Political Tumor or Losing the State
NSD isn’t a political rival, it’s a political tumor. Its presence in state institutions doesn’t reflect democratic pluralism, but the metastasis of Montenegro’s deepest sickness. NSD does not represent Serbian identity in Montenegro; it represents its most extreme and destructive form: armed, dangerous, and well-funded.
Montenegro cannot continue on its European path while its greatest internal obstruction remains in power. The NSD-led project is just that, an obstacle, a toxin, a hyperactive extension of a failed imperial dream that should have ended 20 years ago. And yet, thanks to institutional weakness and the moral decay of the pro-independence elite, it persists. If we don’t push back, what happened to Nikola Jovanović, the mayor of Budva, could happen to anyone who dares challenge the Četnik agenda.
This is no longer a debate over political differences; it’s a battle over whether Montenegro, as we’ve known it since 2006, can survive. There’s still time to heal.
P.S.
Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we’re living in precisely parallel historical epochs. There is, after all, one crucial difference between NSDAP and NSD, the former’s leader was a vegetarian who couldn’t stomach pork knuckle.
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