Far-right extremism is widespread in the Western Balkans and exists in both mainstream political
parties and extremist groups and individuals. Most of the literature focuses on Serbian nationalist
groups, but far-right groups are also present in Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo,
Albania and North Macedonia.

While their precise aims differ, far-right groups share many of the following principles:
 Ethnically based politics.
 Reference to the 1990s wars.
 Glorification of war criminals and ethnic cleansing from the 1990s.
 A belief in victimisation.
 A desire to redraw boundaries on ethnic lines.
 Hatred or ‘securitisation’ of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups.
 The use of violence.
 Anti-Nato and anti-EU politics.
 Pro-Russian attitudes and links.
 Links with organised crime.

The literature focuses on explaining far right extremism in relation to the political cultures of the
countries. It notes continuities with the politics of the 1990s in terms of organisations, personnel
and nationalist ideas. Many far-right groups centre on continuing disputes over borders and
ethnic victimisation in the Balkans, to which the ‘ethnic democracy’ practised by today’s political
elites contributes. It also notes the perceived ‘Europeaness’ of liberal ideas on LGBT and
women’s rights, against which some groups contrast their traditional, Orthodox, Eurasian or
Slavic values. The spread of these discourses are analysed through media and internet sources.
Far-right groups are shown to be linked to football supporters’ clubs, and to have experience in
the Balkan wars or the recent Ukraine conflict in some cases. Sub-regional links within the
Balkans are important, as are links with Russia, and there is some evidence of wider
international links. Some studies look at relative social deprivation, criminal backgrounds and
high levels of unemployment across the region, but most focus on political culture. The perceived
threat of Islam is a theme of many groups, as well as migrants entering Europe through the
Balkans. Far right groups are shown to be enabled by mainstream politics and institutions which
agree with some of their extreme ideas and fail to clamp down on groups.
There is more research on Islamic violent extremism than far-right violent extremism in the
region, although the number of publications on the issue has risen since 2017 (Kursani, 2019).
The most recent literature comes from think tanks and foreign policy sources. Academic
literature, focused on political parties and discourse analysis, covers a slightly earlier period. The
area which has generated most writing is Serbian nationalism, including nationalist groups as
well as foreign fighters in Ukraine. The literature on the other countries is dominated by
discussion of Islamic extremism, often from a security angle. While women are mentioned as
participants in Islamic extremism, there is little information on women in right-wing extremism,
except for conservative views on gender roles. Although the criminal backgrounds of foreign
fighters are noted, as well as some Serbian and Albanian groups’ links with organised crime, this
theme is not expanded on in the literature.