Photo: M1key.me/CC BY 2.0.
Presented here are two recent PREVEX deliverables from Work Package 5, a working paper on the drivers of violent extremism in the Western Balkans, and a policy brief summarizing lessons learnt on the EU’s prevention measures in the region.
D5.2 Working paper – the Balkans
In December 2021, the PREVEX team delivered a working paper (WP5) entitled ‘Enabling environments, drivers, and occurrence/non-occurrence of violent extremism in the Balkans’. Based on extensive desk research and fieldwork conducted during the second half of 2021, the paper aim to analyze the various drivers of violent extremism (VE) in the contemporary Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia). Given the geopolitical significance of the Western Balkan region, the authors argue that an approach that prioritizes non-occurrence of violence may respond more adequately to the strategic need for strengthening resilience to radicalization, extremism and terrorism there.
D5.6 Policy brief – the Balkans
This policy brief is based on the findings in the working paper, and sums up the lessons learnt on why the majority of those living in enabling environments often choose not to get involved in violence. Against this background, it further asks to (re-)consider the EU’s measures for prevention and countering of violent extremism (P/CVE) in the Western Balkans (WB). Based on this, it recommends a series of measures to not only maintain non-occurrence, but also foster stronger resilience.
