Violent Extremism and Sports in the Western Balkans, December 2023

The Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* (1), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) represent a post-conflict region (2) facing various forms of violent extremism. At present, the Western Balkans face most problems with Islamist extremism (IE) and right-wing extremism (RWE). Between 2012 and 2016, more than 1 000 individuals from the Western Balkans travelled to the battlefields in Syria and Iraq (Metodieva, 2021, p. 2), the majority of whom joined terrorist organisations (Daesh and Al-Nusra Front). At the moment, the return of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their families, including children and juveniles, from the war zones is a major security challenge.

In parallel with this issue, RWE has seen a surge in the Western Balkans in the recent years, reflecting a broader, global trend. The prime generators of its resurgence are the migrant crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic (Đorić & Klačar, n.d.).

The key objective of this paper is to provide practical insights on how extremists in the Western Balkans use sports to connect extremist actors, disseminate propaganda, and also to recruit and radicalise individuals. The analysis is based on desk research and in-depth interviews.

Across the Western Balkans, 15 in-depth interviews were organised with members of the security sector, NGOs, the academic community and sports actors. The paper is structured as follows: after a brief introduction, two main sections constitute the analytical core, followed by conclusions and recommendations.

Of the two sections, the first focuses on the nexus between right-wing violent extremism (RWVE) and football hooligans, taking into consideration recruitment techniques as well as the links between hooliganism and nationalism, organised crime and politics, while the second addresses the relationship between IE and sports.

Violent extremists resort to various methods and means in order to radicalise and recruit young people (i.e. video games, social networks, music and humour), one of them also being sports.