The European Financial Crisis, Youth Unemployment and the Rise of Right‐Wing Extremism

This chapter focuses on the effects of the economic crisis in the European Union and the potential threats to the Western Balkans, brought about by right‐wing extremism. The key point of this research is based on the hypothesis that the rise of right‐wing extremism in the European Union is a direct result of the rise in unemployment, especially among the young, which is one of the long term effects of the economic crisis. This growth of right‐wing extremism in the EU will inevitably have a negative impact on the stability and security of the Western Balkans and the wider region of South‐eastern Europe. Concomitant with the emergence of the economic crisis have been the prolonged and deepened negative effects, such as a fall in living standards, rising unemployment, and a lack of prospects for young people. This has resulted in a new generation of nationalists and right‐wing opponents of liberal democracy who have come to the fore in the Balkans. These people are trying to win power, on national programs with an anti‐European orientation. Characteristic of all right‐wing extremist movements are the policies of the protection of national identity, populism, hate speech, homophobia, violence against immigrants and people of different faiths, calls for the homogenization of the nation, and calling on a higher level of morality. The impact of right‐wing extremist groups usually increases before and during the elections when the established political parties easily resort to populist and nationalist rhetoric in order to win as many votes as possible. Many of them operate under the spiritual and financial auspices of radical domestic religious communities. Although being marginal groups, the danger arises from their exclusivity, with membership mostly drawn from young people who can easily resort to the use of violent methods. The gap between different ethnicities and religions is on the increase. Political parties are becoming tools of political socialization, rather than advocating the stability and prosperity of citizens, and are the main actors in the separation of citizensin all lines