EXTREMISM

In the territory of former Yugoslavia, the past is still one of the most contentious topics despite the fact that more than 20 years have passed since the conflict ended. The question of how to deal with past crimes and human rights violations tends to open up a wide range of legal, political and psychological issues.

Islamist extremism in Serbia is declining despite receiving significant attention, however, its non-violent forms have gained some traction in areas like Sanjak. On the other hand, political divisions signal a growing potential for political extremism in the region. In contrast, right-wing extremism is experiencing an upward trend, largely due to the Government's inaction and favourable media reporting.

This paper presents the factors enabling the environment for extremism and the resilience factors to violent extremism in the case of Sanjak.

In the latest BCSP study, we analyzed who are the main actors who create and spread anti-immigrant narratives, what are the main anti-immigrant narratives and messages, as well as the mechanisms and channels used by extreme right-wingers to attract attention and spread their influence to a wider audience.

In the last few years, Islamist extremism in Serbia is decreasing but far-right extremism is on the rise. Although there is the will in the community and among the citizens to work on this problem, greater progress is not possible without the assistance of the state, which has not shown interest in this problem so far. These are the main conclusions of the discussion "Towards a better strategic response to extremism in Serbia", organized by the BCSP on February 11 in cooperation with the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights and the National Convention on the EU.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) strongly condemns police brutality and demands an urgent investigation into police conduct towards protesters who gathered in central Belgrade last night. The citizens have a right to peacefully express dissatisfaction with the way the government is combating the COVID-19 pandemic and the government should stop furthering social polarisation, which threatens to develop into a permanent state of violence.

Why are some communities more likely to experience violent extremism than others is one of the core questions of the PREVEX project, in which the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) is one of the partners. Participants gathered for the project kick-off at Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, on 3-4 February 2020.

Continuous education and the active role of institutions are effective ways of combating extremism, it was emphasized at the MAN 2019 conference dedicated to the understanding and prevention of extremism in which the Executive Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) Predrag Petrovic participated on 14 June 2019 in Belgrade. BCSP Executive Director Predrag Petrovic talked about the shortcomings of the education system and the lack of ...

Spread of extremism in Western Balkans should be addressed by long-term measures aimed at root causes such as inequality, political corruption and foreign influence, it was highlighted at the presentation of main findings of the Western Balkans Extremism Research Forum Regional Report held on 29 January 2019 in London. BCSP Executive Director Predrag Petrovic presented findings of the Serbia Report that examined drivers of radicalisation and violent extremism in Serbia ...