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Islamism in Serbia Fading, Far-Right Extremism Growing, NGOs Warn

February 11, 202217:01
Far-right views have gained traction in Serbia – while the government's focus has remained on Islamist extremism – Serbia's Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, BCBP, and Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, have warned.


Alain Ancion from the Dutch embassy in Sarajevo (left), Izabela Kisic, Bojan Elek from BCBP, Marija Ignjatijevic from BCBP, psychologist Jarmila Bujak Stanko, lawyer Nikola Kovacevic and Predrag Petrovic from BCBP (right). Photo:BIRN

Islamist extremism in Serbia is decreasing but far-right extremism is on the rise, according to research by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, BCBP, and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, presented on Friday.

Izabela Kisic, from the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, said: “Overall, Islamist extremism is in significant decline, there is currently no real danger of violent extremist activities of this type.

“The extreme right in Serbia has been on a serious rise for years, which can be seen in the growing number of violent, ideologically motivated, acts,” she added.

Kisic explained that main factor behind this right-wing extremism “is the dominant political narrative about the past, that is, about the wars of the 1990s“.

Serbia’s strategy for combating terrorism and extremism, which expired at the end of 2021, focused on Islamist extremism and terrorism, neglecting the danger from far right, experts said.

BCBP researcher Marija Ignjatijevic said that despite the focus of both the international and domestic public on Islamist extremism in Serbia, with a focus on the mainly Bosniak southwest Sandzak region, “this community has shown a high level of resistance to this religious Islamist extremism“.

Her research identified three main factors behind this resilience in Sandzak.

“The first is the role of the local community, the second is the role of prominent individuals in the community and the third is the role of the diaspora, which is very specific to the Sandzak region,“ Ignjatijevic said.

“The diaspora, which is not only in Western Europe but also in Turkey, has played a major role in alleviating the economic problems of this region and have helped in various ways to alleviate the economic factors behind radicalization,“ she added.

Rightist extremism in Serbia has been present for decades, especially since the Yugoslav wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Predrag Petrovic from BCBP said that in the last couple of years, some extremists had now added an anti-migrant narrative that did not exist before.

Petrovic said that, besides the direct consequences of this to migrants, anti-migrant opinion in the broader population had expanded.

“We found a significant increase in anti-immigrant stances among citizens in Serbia, who believe that migrants increase the crime rate, pose a threat to the health of Serbian citizens, worsen Serbian culture and values and seek the violent Islamization of Serbia,“ Petrovic said.

“Serbian citizens support anti-immigrant policies in terms of limiting the number of migrants, and in terms of expelling migrants,“ he added.

Petrovic said that although the majority of Serbian citizens would likely not become members of anti-migrant extreme groups, research showed that many “definitely support the activities of such groups, and the values and attitudes that these groups promote and express in practice“.

Milica Stojanovic