Extremist patronage is support from existing members, including funding, resources or protection. It can help start forming a new violent extremist group, especially in places where they don’t yet exist, by providing funds and backing for early activities.
During the peak of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State provided funds, training and resources to further its strategic aims in the Western Balkans. In one case from Kosovo, Lavdrim Muhaxheri, a Kosovar Albanian Islamic State leader and recruiter of ethnic Albanian fighters for Syria and Iraq, had secured funding for a planned terrorist attack on the Israeli national football team during their visit to Albania in 2016.4 Prosecutors revealed that Muhaxheri had managed the financing and logistics, including purchasing weapons and securing between €1 350 and €1 500 for the chosen attacker.5 Although authorities could not trace the source of the funds, this case highlighted the ability of Islamic State affiliates to transfer funds through local fixers in the region.
4Arita Gërxhaliu, Prokurorja Shpjegon organizimin e të akuzuarve për ndeshjen Shqipëri-Izrael, Kallxo, 20 December 2017,
https://kallxo.com/shkurt/prokurorjashpjegon-organizimin-e-te-akuzuarve-per-ndeshjenshqiperi-izrael; Kosovo jails eight for planning
attack on Israelis, Balkan Insight, 18 May 2018, https://balkaninsight.com/2018/05/18/kosovo-jails-eight-for-planning-attack-
onisraelis-05-18-2018.
5Interview with an investigative journalist from Kosovo, August 2024, by email; Kosovo: Nine accused of terrorism, KoSSev, 14 June
2017, https://kossev.info/en/kosovodevetoro-optuzeno-za-terorizam/.[{{type}} Annotation]