The threat of right-wing extremism in Belgium continues to increase, in conjunction with extremism against the government. This is what the State Security (VSSE) says in a new report. The service that monitors the security of the country points to an important trend within right-wing extremism, namely the “worrying radicalization of young people”.
The VSSE has noticed for several years that right-wing extremists are increasingly targeting the government or other symbols of the ‘establishment’ with their discourse or actions: the press – which they call the ‘mainstream media’ or ‘left-wing liars’ -, academics with mainly the virologists and politicians.
The government is more and more often the head of Jut than other ‘classical’ targets of right-wing extremism such as asylum centres, mosques or synagogues. “Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices, it is striking that right-wing extremists are once again trying to stir up anger and hatred against the government,” the VSSE points out.
In Belgium, too, the VSSE notes that more and more young people behind the keyboard of their PC or on their smartphone are rapidly radicalizing and in some cases turning out to be hate propagandists and ‘keyboard warriors’ who incite hatred and violence. “The graphic style and the highly hateful and downright violent content of their messages on various social media platforms, such as Telegram, bear certain resemblances to the Islamic State’s glorification of violence several years ago,” it read.
In the past two years, the VSSE has passed on several files of radicalized young people to the police services and the public prosecutor’s office. In some cases it concerned minors who preached hatred and violence behind their screens with radical Nazi and anti-Semitic views, in other cases young people who themselves threatened violence. “The timely detection and timely prevention of these impressionable and impulsive young people turning to violence will be a serious challenge for the VSSE and the other intelligence and security services in the coming years,” says State Security.
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