The Party of Freedom and Justice (, abbr. SSP) is a social democratic political party in Serbia. It is led by Dragan ÃÂilas.
Founded in 2019 as the merger of the Green Ecological Party â The Greens and Serbian Left, SSP was a member of the Alliance for Serbia (SZS), a coalition of opposition political parties that was initiated by ÃÂilas in 2018. Together with SZS, SSP boycotted the 2020 parliamentary election, claiming that the election would not be free and fair. After the election, SSP became part of the United Opposition of Serbia (UOPS), the successor of SZS. UOPS would be eventually dissolved in January 2021, due to disputes between SSP and the People's Party (Narodna). In late 2021, SSP and Narodna returned together with the Movement of Free Citizens and Democratic Party to form the United for the Victory of Serbia (UZPS) alliance, which was officially formalised in February 2022, to take part in the 2022 general election. The elections resulted in the SSP gaining 10 seats in the National Assembly and 6 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade. UZPS was also dissolved after the elections. In the 2023 elections, it was part of the Serbia Against Violence alliance.
SSP is a centre-left political party and it serves in opposition to SNS. A self-described anti-corruption party, the party is also opposed to party employment, while regarding economy, SSP has called for tax reforms that would bring in progressive taxation. SSP supports financing free textbooks and school meals for school children, and has called for the introduction of a new labour law. The party supports the accession of Serbia to the European Union, wants Serbia to harmonise its foreign policy with the European Union, and initiate sanctions on Russia regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. SSP has criticised Chinese investments into infrastructure and it had adopted a platform in which they pledged "reconciliation, cooperation, and the acceptance of diversity" between countries in the Balkans. Supporters of SSP are pro-European while they also see themselves as socially progressive. SSP is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists.
The Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) was formed out of the Green Ecological Party â The Greens (ZEPâÂÂZeleni), a political party that was established in 2008. Dejan Bulatoviàwas the leader of ZEPâÂÂZeleni after 2015. He led the party into a coalition with the Greens of Serbia (ZS), which fell apart before the 2017 presidential election, and was a part of the Civic Bloc 381 coalition which was formed in 2018 and headed by the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG). ZEPâÂÂZeleni left the bloc in November 2018. A month later, ZEPâÂÂZeleni joined the Alliance for Serbia (SZS), an opposition political alliance initiated by Dragan ÃÂilas in 2018. A series of anti-government protests began in December 2018 after a physical attack on Borko StefanoviÃÂ; SZS supported the protests.
In March 2019, it was announced that ÃÂilas agreed with Bulatoviàto reconstruct the party as SSP with ÃÂilas as the party's president; ÃÂilas previously stated that he had no plans of buying ZEPâÂÂZeleni. Alongside ZEPâÂÂZeleni, the Serbian Left (LS), a political party led by StefanoviÃÂ, and ten movements and individuals merged to create SSP. The founding convention was held on 19 April 2019, at which ÃÂilas was chosen president, Stefanoviàas deputy president, and Bulatoviàand Marinika Tepiàas vice-presidents. Following its formation, SSP gained two seats in the National Assembly of Serbia and 13 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade.
SSP announced that it would boycott the 2020 parliamentary election in September 2019, claiming that the election would not be free and fair. This position was adopted by SZS later that month. Mass protests that began in 2018 formally ended in March 2020 due to the proclamation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. After the June 2020 parliamentary election, SZS was dissolved and subsequently transformed into the United Opposition of Serbia (UOPS), in which SSP also took part. However, UOPS remained unstable; SSP announced in December 2020 that it would form a joint platform with the PSG regarding the inter-party dialogues on electoral conditions. This was opposed by the People's Party (Narodna), which ultimately led to the dissolution of UOPS in January 2021.
SSP presented its political platform for the inter-party dialogues in February 2021. The dialogues lasted from July to October 2021, though SSP left the dialogues in September 2021 after stating that the proposed document is "unacceptable" (neprihvatljiv), claiming that the document does not offer concrete solutions regarding electoral conditions. After leaving the dialogues, SSP renewed its cooperation with Narodna, which led to the announcement that they would take part in a coalition for the 2022 general election. In November 2021, it was announced that TepiÃÂ would be the ballot representative of the joint coalition, which was mainly composed of SSP, Narodna, PSG, and the Democratic Party (DS).
Shortly before the January 2022 constitutional referendum, SSP called for citizens to not take part in the referendum. Later in January 2022, SSP proposed Zdravko Ponoà ¡ of Narodna as the presidential candidate of the joint coalition. This coalition was formalised in February 2022 under the name United for the Victory of Serbia (UZPS), when Ponoà ¡ was confirmed to be their joint presidential candidate. In the parliamentary election, UZPS won 14% of the popular vote and 10 seats in the National Assembly, while Ponoà ¡ won 18% of the popular vote, placing second behind Aleksandar VuÃÂiÃÂ, the incumbent president of Serbia. Additionally, SSP won 6 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade in the 2022 Belgrade City Assembly election. Following the elections, ÃÂilas met with VuÃÂiàto discuss about the outcome of the Belgrade City Assembly election. This resulted into criticism from Narodna; DS also added that ÃÂilas did not consult with other coalition members before the meeting. This ultimately led to the dissolution of UZPS.
Following the elections, SSP announced that it would form a joint parliamentary group with PSG, Movement for Reversal, and United Trade Unions of Serbia "Sloga" in the National Assembly and City Assembly of Belgrade; these groups were formalised under the name Ujedinjeni. ÃÂilas was re-elected president of SSP in July 2022, while StefanoviÃÂ, TepiÃÂ, and Bulatoviàretained their positions; Goran Petroviàand Duà ¡an Nikeziàalso became vice-presidents of the party. Bulatoviàhowever left SSP and the Ujedinjeni parliamentary group in December 2022, claiming that Tepiàallegedly lobbies for the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). He then met with several government ministers before forming the Alliance of Social Democrats citizens' group in January 2023.
SSP took part in the 2023 mass protests, which began after the Belgrade school shooting and a mass murder near Mladenovac and Smederevo in early May 2023. The Ujedinjeni parliamentary group changed its name to Forward to Europe in July 2023. SSP became part of the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition in October 2023, a coalition of political parties organising the 2023 protests. SPN announced that it will take part in the 2023 parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections. Along with Miroslav AleksiÃÂ from the People's Movement of Serbia, TepiÃÂ was announced as one of the representatives of SPN. In the parliamentary election, SPN won 65 seats, 16 of which went to SSP. After the elections, SPN organised anti-government protests which lasted until 30 December. During the protests, TepiÃÂ and other SSP politicians were on a hunger strike.
Once the 14th National Assembly of Serbia was constituted, SSP formed a joint parliamentary group with PSG. This group was dissolved in April 2024, after which SSP formed a parliamentary group on its own. The City Assembly of Belgrade was not constituted because the quorum was not met during the constitutive session. A new election was then called for 2 June. SSP opposed the participation in the new snap election on the grounds that electoral conditions did not improve. This ultimately led to the dissolution of SPN. Parties that decided to take part in the election formed the We Choose Belgrade electoral alliance. In October 2024, à ½eljko Veselinoviàand ÃÂorÃÂe ÃÂorÃÂiàleft the SSP parliamentary group, with ÃÂorÃÂiàleaving SSP altogether. They were followed by Sonja Pernat and Irena à ½ivkoviàin November; Veselinoviàannounced the formation of a new political party before 2025. He subsequently announced the formation of the Workers' Party. In November 2025, it was announced that the Movement for Reversal would merge into SSP.
Since November 2024, student-led anti-corruption protests have been held in Serbia. SSP has since then advocated for the formation of a transitional government as an end to the crisis.
At the founding convention in April 2019, ÃÂilas stated that SSP would focus on economic prosperity and education, and that it would adopt a declaration of reconciliation regarding the Kosovo issue. This declaration was presented in May 2019, with SSP stating that the declaration "predicts the way to solve the people's life problems [in Kosovo]" (predviÃÂa put reà ¡avanja à ¾ivotnih problema ljudi [na Kosovu]). SSP serves in opposition to SNS. Describing itself as an anti-corruption party, SSP proposed a law regarding the "fight against corruption of public officeholders" (borbu protiv korupcije javnih funkcionera) in November 2019; Tepiànoted that the proposal was written on the model of practice of former Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor Laura Kövesi. SSP is also opposed to "party employment" (stranaÃÂko zapoà ¡ljavanje), saying that "it should not matter whether you are a member of a political party, but whether you have the qualifications to do a certain job" (neÃÂe biti vaà ¾no da li ste ÃÂlan stranke, veàda li imate kvalifikaciju da radite odreÃÂeni posao). In July 2022, SSP criticised attacks on investigative journalists.
Ideologically, SSP has been described as a social democratic party, and it is positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum. Duà ¡an SpasojeviÃÂ, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of University of Belgrade, noted that within the party, ÃÂilas is closer to the political centre, while Tepiàis significantly more leftist. Regarding social issues, Spasojeviàpositioned SSP on the centre-left. SSP supported the manifestation of 2022 EuroPride in Belgrade.
SSP criticised the increase on toll fees in June 2019, claiming that the quality of the roads has not improved since 2017, when the toll fees were previously increased. Later in December 2019, SSP presented its proposed law on the origin of property at its party session, which according to StefanoviÃÂ would confiscate property from those who cannot prove that they acquired it legally. According to its programme from 2020, SSP guaranteed to "implement tax reforms that would introduce a progressive taxation of citizens' income and reduce taxes and contributions to 60% of net earnings" (sprovoÃÂenje poreske reforme kojom ÃÂe se uvesti progresivno oporezivanje dohotka graÃÂan i smanjivanje poreza i doprinosa 60% neto zarade), while it also stated its support for abolishing parafiscal taxes and introduce tax reliefs for donations and endowments in health, culture, and sports.
SSP supports financing free textbooks and school meals for school children in Serbia; in September 2022, SSP also said that "with the reduction of corruption and abolishment of unnecessary projects, enough money would be collected to finance free schoolbooks and higher salaries for educators" (ukoliko bi se smanjila korupcije i ukinuli nepotrebni projekti, prikupilo dovoljno para za finansiranje besplatnih udà ¾enika i veÃÂih plata za prosvetne radnike). SSP has criticised workers' conditions in Serbia and has called for the adoption of a new labour law that would according to SSP "increase wages that could be then used to live with dignity" (omoguÃÂiti plate od kojih moà ¾e da se dostojanstveno à ¾ivi). ÃÂilas also stated that he is opposed to neoliberalism, calling it "not just wrong, but life-threatening" (neoliberalna ideologija ne samo pogreà ¡na, veài opasna po à ¾ivot).
Critical of duty-free trade with China, SSP has said that it "brings long-term consequences to the Serbian economy, jobs, and working standards".
As a pro-European party, SSP supports the accession of Serbia to the European Union, stating that "Serbia's future is in Europe" (buduÃÂnost Srbije u Evropskoj uniji). SSP also wants Serbia to harmonise its foreign policy with the European Union and has urged the government to continue the integration of Serbia to the European Union. SSP adopted the "Serbia in the EU until 2030" declaration in March 2023, while a month later it presented its "Forward to Europe" programme, aimed at bringing Serbia closer to the European Union.
Following the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, SSP has called for the end of the war in Ukraine, stated its support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and has called for humanitarian aid to be sent to the vulnerable population. Initially, SSP opposed to sanctioning Russia, though they reversed this position after the 2022 general elections. ÃÂilas later criticised political neutrality regarding the issue, stating that "neutrality is treated as siding with [Russia]" (politiÃÂka neutralnost u ovom trenutku se tretira kao svrstavanje uz [Rusiju]"; he also said that Serbia should remain military neutral but with a clear position regarding the war in Ukraine. In November 2022, SSP proposed a resolution that would align Serbia's foreign policy with the European Union and implement sanctions on Russia.
SSP criticised Chinese investments into Serbian infrastructure, claiming that "Serbia became the first Chinese colony in Europe" (Srbija prva kineska kolonija u Evropi). Regarding Belgrade, SSP stated its support for the termination of the contract with the investor of Belgrade Waterfront in April 2021. SSP called for the end of "environmental massacre" (ekoloà ¡ki masakr) in Aleksinac in May 2019, claiming that the trees in the centre of Aleksinac were cut down illegally. SSP criticised the ministry of environmental protection regarding the quality of air in Bor in June 2019, claiming that the government ignored excessive air pollution with sulfur dioxide and heavy metal particles.
Regarding regional cooperation, SSP has adopted a platform in which they pledged reconciliation, cooperation, and the acceptance of diversity between countries in the Balkans. SSP condemned the Srebrenica genocide, stating that "11 July should be the remembrance of the Srebrenica victims" (11. jul treba da bude posveÃÂen srebreniÃÂkim à ¾rtvama), and that "the Balkans should function on the principles of tolerance and cooperation" (Balkan koji funkcionià ¡e na principima tolerancije i saradnje).
SSP has criticised the approach of the Serbian government towards Kosovo and the Kosovo government of Albin Kurti, opting to solve the Kosovo issue via dialogue. In its declaration regarding Kosovo, SSP advocated for reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians. Jelena Miloà ¡eviÃÂ, an SSP member of parliament, claimed that Kurti's government is authoritarian and violated rights of Kosovo Serbs. During the North Kosovo crisis in 2022, SSP supported the resignation of Kosovo Serbs from the institutions of the government of Kosovo.
According to a Heinrich Böll Foundation research from November 2020, supporters of SSP saw themselves as socially progressive and economically leftist. The researchers also noted that voters with more liberal preferences were also orientated towards SSP. Spasojeviànoted in 2022 that its supporters closely represented the views of Tepiàthan ÃÂilas, while he also noted that its voters are pro-European.
SSP is led by Dragan ÃÂilas, who was most recently re-elected in 2022. Additionally, StefanoviÃÂ serves as the party's deputy president, while TepiÃÂ, NikeziÃÂ, and PetroviÃÂ serve as vice-presidents of SSP. Alongside them, Velibor PavloviÃÂ serves as the president of the party's executive board, PeÃÂa MitroviÃÂ serves as the general-secretary of SSP, and Ana StevanoviÃÂ serves as the international secretary of SSP. Its headquarters is located at Vojvode Stepe 199 in Belgrade. SSP has a youth wing named the SSP Youth and a women's wing named Women's Network.
ÃÂilas met with Zoran Zaev, the president of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, in February 2019 with whom he discussed cooperation between SSP and Zaev's party. As the representative of SSP, ÃÂilas took part in a meeting that was organised by the Party of European Socialists (PES) in May 2020, where he expressed his party's position regarding the 2020 parliamentary election and European Union. In November 2022, SSP formed connections with the Social Democratic Party of Austria which stated its support for SSP to be admitted into PES. As the representative of SSP, TepiÃÂ took part in the Global Progressive Forum which was organised by PES in December 2022. SSP became an observer member of PES in November 2023, and an associate member in October 2025.
In the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, SSP is represented by Tatjana Paà ¡iÃÂ, who sits in the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, while in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, SSP was previously represented by Marko DimiÃÂ, who was a substitute and sat as a "non-registered" member.