PUBLICATION: Glossary
Eco-extremism
Ecological degradation and climate change in recent decades have raised citizens’ concerns and led to the formation of many environmental protection movements. However, alongside legitimate activism, radical and extremist groups have also emerged, employing violent methods to draw attention to their aims.
In recent years, there has been a notable rise in ecologically motivated violent incidents, which could lead to the delegitimisation and criminalisation of justified environmental initiatives. Serbia is no exception in this regard. Over the past few years, environmental initiatives opposing lithium mining in Serbia have surfaced, and authorities have labeled them as eco- terrorists and eco-extremists in an effort to discredit them. Therefore, it is crucial to clearly differentiate radicalism from extremism in order to support democratic activism while preserving community safety.
The author of this backgrounder is Aleksa Simić, an intern at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
DETAILS
DATE: 14.05.2025
TOPICS: Challenges Risks and Threats, Extremism
TYPE: Glossary
DOI Number: <a href="https://doi.org/10.55042/CTHN9940" target="blank">https://doi.org/10.55042/CTHN9940
AUTHORS
SHARE
PDF PREVIEW
RELATED
Date: 21.07.2026.
Author: Dr Srđan Cvijić | Igor Bandović | Marko Drajić | Predrag Petrović |
In November 2025, the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy published the policy brief Political and Institutional Crisis in Serbia: Possible Scenarios. The brief outlined four scenarios and their corresponding outcomes.
New Extremist Trends in Serbia: Anti-System Extremism, Extremist Telegram Channels and Eco-Extremism
Date: 30.06.2026.
Author: Gorana Pebić | Isidora Stakić | Miloš Jovanović |
This report analyses recent and so far insufficiently explored forms of extremism in Serbia, with a particular focus on anti-system extremism, the role of the Telegram digital platform and the instrumentalisation of environmental issues.
Date: 26.06.2026.
Author: Gorana Pebić |
The analysis explores how far-right Telegram channels instrumentalise opposition to the Rio Tinto project and lithium mining in Serbia to amplify their pre-existing nationalist and anti-Western narratives.
