Islamism: Why is it “on fire” in the Western Balkans?

Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Sandzak region of southwestern Serbia is cosmopolitan and tolerant. Sunni Muslims have lived here with Christians and Jews for centuries, creating their own form of European Islam. But since the 1990s, this Islam has repeatedly come under pressure from outside influences. The attack on a security guard at the Israeli embassy in Belgrade on June 29, 2024, now raises fears of a new wave of extremism.

Before the Bosnian war (1992-95), there were no Salafists or Wahhabis in the Balkans, says Vedran Dzić of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs in Vienna. “They have no roots in the Balkans.” Even today, extremist groups remain a small minority among Muslims.

The influence of extremist groups during the Bosnian war

During the Bosnian war, Bosnian Muslims received significant military support, especially from Muslim countries, and foreign fighters brought radical Islamist movements to the country, which have not disappeared since the war ended. They are “the foundation of political Islam” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carsten Dommel wrote in an analysis for the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). Dommel was the director of the foundation’s office in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, from 2014 to 2018.

About 4,000 mujahideen from Arab countries fought alongside Bosnia at that time, many of whom remained in the country after the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. Extremist groups established themselves in some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandzak since the late 1990s with open support from Saudi Arabia. Saudi money was used to build Salafi mosques and maintain cultural institutions.

During the wars in Syria and Iraq, ISIS served as a platform for socially disillusioned young people who went to fight for jihad in those countries, according to Žižić. At the time, Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the European countries with the highest number of ISIS fighters per capita. In fact, these ISIS supporters came from some of the so-called Salafi villages in Bosnia that were well-policed. After the end of ISIS in Syria and Iraq in 2019, this form of extremism declined again. Since then, there have been no further attacks by Islamists in the Western Balkans.

Saudi withdrawal

But extremist organizations persist, even as Saudi Arabia has cut back on its financial aid. According to media reports, the attacker in Belgrade, a Serb who converted to Islam, was radicalized there. He had most recently lived in the Muslim-majority city of Novi Pazar in the Sandzak region of southern Serbia. In January 2020, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that they would no longer support mosques abroad. In 2021, the country’s de facto ruler called “the ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam outdated” in a televised speech.

A pillar of radicalization has been broken here. New factors are at play. The war in the Middle East could become a new driver of radicalization. “So far, the Gaza war has had little impact on the Balkans,” says Giorgio Chaviero, a Balkans expert at the American think tank Gulf State Analytics. “But the longer the situation in Gaza continues, the greater the risk.” The Gaza war is radicalizing young Muslims more than any other conflict around the world. “In the Arab and Muslim world, there is a great deal of emotion in light of the many deaths in Gaza that must be mourned every day.” This could also lead young people to fall into the arms of extremist forces.

Extremism through the Gaza war?

Political scientist Vedran Žižić also believes that current events in the Middle East are contributing to a new wave of radicalization, even if it is not possible to determine the exact number of new radicals. In the Western Balkans, the Gaza war is seen as a global campaign against Muslims. “The West mourns the children killed in Ukraine, but silence in Gaza.” This leads to bitterness, resentment towards the West and even anti-Semitism.

Serbia’s policy is also seen as contradictory. On the one hand, the country supports Palestinian concerns internationally, but on the other hand, it supplies Israel with weapons as of October 7, 2023.

social injustice and discontent

The majority of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandzak reject extremism as an affront to their religion. The Muslim community has clearly distanced itself from the terrorist attack in Belgrade. But in addition to the Gaza war, social inequality and the unfulfilled promise of a better future after the Bosnian war also provide fertile ground for extremism.

“The entire region experienced a huge social and economic decline in the 1990s,” says Vedran Žižić. “The hopes of a catch-up process were not fulfilled.” Only a small new elite close to the regimes benefited. On the other hand, the broad mass of Bosniaks suffers from marginalization, impoverishment and low living standards, approaching the poverty line. There is great discontent among young people about their situation. Tens of thousands leave the region every year.

“This situation leads to frustration and is a breeding ground for extremist ideologies, not only Islamic, but also Serbian nationalism.” Muslims in Sandzak also see themselves as deprived and discriminated against by Serbs. After the Belgrade attack, the risk of anti-Muslim sentiment in Serbia has increased. This in turn could further fuel the spiral of disillusionment and extremism.

Source: Deutsche Welle