According to the Director of OCAM, Paul Van Tigchelt, there is currently a higher risk amongst those who have become radicalized who have never left Belgium, and who have often not had contact with a terrorist group. “These people have psychological or other problems and allow themselves to be easily influenced by propaganda – and not only jihadist propaganda. In many countries, we also see these people being hijacked by far right ideology.”
In Belgium the far right do not, strictly speaking, present a terror threat, but “…we must take account of the risk of unrest. The breeding ground for that is already present,” says Mr Van Tigchelt. For example, he notes the similarities between the far right group, Schild & Vrienden, revealed last year in a report, and the practices of the jihadist organization, Sharia4Belgium.
Christopher Vincent
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