Katarina Ristić is a lecturer and senior researcher at the Global and European Studies Institute at Leipzig University. She is working on the intersection of Southeast European history, media and memory studies with special focus on nationalism, fascism and digital culture. Following philosophy studies at the University of Belgrade (2004), she pursued a PhD in Southeastern history at Leipzig University (2013). In the monograph “Imaginary Trials”, she focuses on war crimes trials in the Hague Tribunal and their media representation in the former Yugoslavia. Ristić was a research associate at Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg and at the University of Magdeburg in the field of International Security and Conflict Studies. She published in Memory Studies Journal, International Criminal Justice Review, The Journal of Perpetrator Research, Media, War & Conflict, with regular blogs in ReCentGlobe and Trafo. She is currently working for FGZ (Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt) focusing on far-right extremism and memory culture in the digital age.

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Transnational Far-right in Digital Platforms: Organic Influencers, Digital Archives, and Memetic Activism. Case study Balkans

In the 1990s, a new collaboration emerged among various branches of the European, Russian, and American far-right, creating a pan-European, ethnopluralist revolutionary right culture (Bar-On, 2011). Distancing itself from biological racism and ethnonational fascism, the new right embraced civilizationalism and cultural racism (Brubaker, 2017), forging transnational connections evident in shared gatherings, clothing, music, and violence (Whine, 2012; Miller-Idriss, 2020). The Western Balkans, as a site of radical mobilization during the 1990s wars, coupled with global responses such as Hague Tribunal and military interventions, became a fertile hub for far-right ideologies and activism. The full extent of Balkan’s influence on global extremism would only be revealed following the terrorist attacks in Norway and New Zealand (Mujanovic, 2019; Ristić, 2024). This paper examines the transnational connections and cultural transfers of the far-right in digital platforms, focusing on the Balkan region.

Although the connections and cooperation among far-right parties and movements indicate a need for a global perspective and transnational lenses, research is still dominated by methodological nationalism, often adopting a state-centered comparative perspective (Mudde, 2000; Stojarová, 2016). In addition to the endemic far-right groups, the Balkans connect two major divisions within the European far-right: Eurasianist and Atlanticist (Guerra, 2024), providing a safe haven for extremists evading legal prosecution (Skrozza, 2013; Bieber, 2023). Moreover, stepping into emerging narrative of “Islamization of Europe” and “Great Replacement”, Serbian narratives of the genocide in Srebrenica and independence of Kosovo slowly turned into foundational myths of European far-right. Dugin’s interpretation of the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo as a “wake-up call for a multipolar world” provides a key to understanding the ideological and geopolitical dimensions of far-right engagement with the region. This development has been further amplified by social media, which offers a conducive environment for far-right digital activism and memetic protests (Fielitz and Marcks, 2019).

 Focusing on the Balkan region, this paper explores emerging forms of digital connectivity among far-right actors, particularly on platforms such as 4chan/pol, Reddit, and YouTube. It introduces the concept of organic influencers - grassroots actors who play a key role in translating far-right narratives and adapting them to local cultural contexts. YouTube is examined as an alternative digital archive, where far-right content (revisionist documentaries and alternative news footage), is widely accessible in multiple languages. Finally, the paper investigates how digital activists use memetic strategies to link grievances and themes across regions and align them with the broader civilizational themes. The study demonstrates how digital media not only enables but actively co-creates transnational connections, transforming the far right into a truly global phenomenon.