Western Balkans, Terrorism, Radicalisation, Foreign Fighters, EU
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris, November 2015 which left 129 people
dead, the Balkans found itself once again in the frame as a source of instability and
insecurity for Europe. At least two of the attackers had travelled into Europe via the
so-called Balkan route using legitimate refugees from the conflict in Syria as cover. In addition to the perceived threat of a soft underbelly in the EU’s borders, the Balkan’s has also been framed as a potential source of radicalised terrorists, as disillusioned Muslims in the region turn to more radical forms of Islam and engage with radical jihadi networks online or even travel to fight with Daesh in Syria and Iraq. This paper seeks to examine these narratives by engaging with local debates within the Balkans on the nature and extent of the jihadi threat. It will also provide an overview of the extent of radical Islamist networks in the region, with a view to informing future policy and practical responses by the EU institutions, and existing EU missions in the field in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as well as the accession process for candidate countries in the region.