One of the most concerning offline threats emanating from members of the
transnational violent right-wing extremist and terrorist movement concerns...


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CEP Webinar: Paramilitary Training Activities Of Violent Right-Wing Extremists
– Threat, Mitigation Opportunities, And Challenges

 

(New York, N.Y. / Berlin, Germany) – One of the most concerning offline
threats emanating from members of the transnational violent right-wing
extremist and terrorist movement concerns ongoing paramilitary training
activities. In the past few years, paramilitary training activities of members
of this movement concentrated on locations in the United States, Central and
Eastern Europe, as well as the Balkans, while in South African right-wing
extremists have strengthened their connections to networks in the U.S. and
Europe and served as an inspiration. 

 

The first time, such activities come to the forefront during the conflict in
the Ukraine, where a significant number of European and American right-wing
extremists traveled to the country
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 to participate in the conflict. Some of these extremists
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other returned or are currently engaged in other conflict zones. Those
right-wing extremist fighters that returned present a latent security risk in
their home countries. Their military combat experience, coupled with their
extremist ideologies, remain a serious concern. The Ukraine conflict also
increased the role and relevance of Central and Eastern European groups and
networks
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 for the transnational movement as a whole. During the past years, commercially
driven weapons and paramilitary training infrastructure
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 has developed in Central and Eastern Europe which does not seem to deploy
particular strict know-your-customer protocols when offering sensitive training
services to foreigners. This commercial infrastructure has been used regularly
by right-wing extremists
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 to obtain professional paramilitary training.

 

Furthermore, the close connection of many networks within the movement to the
Mixed Marital Arts (MMA) scene in Europe and the United States as well as the
penetration of violent right-wing extremist individuals in the professional
security industry may aid in the preparation for and perpetration of violence
and therefore deserves further analysis. In order to counter these activities,
both common legal concepts as well as the further development of a range of
legal and administrative measures is necessary. These could focus on disrupting
travel of the respective individuals, as well as increasing controls over
access to arms, ammunitions, explosive material, and their precursors
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Finally, greater clarity over potential financial flows towards these training
facilities and the respective online content related to members of violent
right-wing extremist and terrorist networks could serve as an early warning
mechanism.

 

This webinar will explore the issue of paramilitary training activities of
violent right-wing extremists in Central and Eastern Europe and discuss the
challenges and opportunities that governments encounter when attempting to
mitigate this threat. This webinar is the fourth event in a virtual event series

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 during which the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), supported by the Federal
Foreign Office of Germany, examines the various challenges emanating from the
transnational right-wing extremist and terrorist movement.

 

“Paramilitary Training Activities of Violent Right-Wing Extremists: Threat,
Mitigation Opportunities, and Challenges”


Date:   Monday, December 13, 2021

Time:   9:30 a.m. ET / 15:30 CET

 

EVENT PROGRAM:

 

Moderator

Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler

Senior Director, Counter Extremism Project

 

Introductory remarks

Gabriele Scheel

Head of Division “International Cooperation against Terrorism, Drug
Trafficking, Organized Crime and Corruption,” Federal Foreign Office of Germany

 

Part 1: Existing training infrastructure and threat analysis

Kacper Rekawek, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the
University of Oslo

 

Jakub Woroncow, PhD

Researcher, Institute of Social Safety (IBS), Poland

 

Ruslan Trad

Journalist, co-founder of De Re Militari Journal and member of the Association
of European Journalists - Bulgaria

 

Part 2: Government countermeasures, challenges, and opportunities

Representative of the Government of the Czech Republic (TBC)

 

Representative of the Government of United States of America (TBC)

 

Gilles de Kerchove (TBC)

Former E.U. Counter-Terrorism Coordinator and CEP advisory board member

 

Roundtable discussion

Following Part 1 and during the Roundtable discussion participants will have
the opportunity to address questions to the presenters.

 

REGISTRATION:

 

To participate in this webinar, please register via the following link:

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Please register up to 1 hour before the webinar start so that your
registration can be approved in time.

 

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