On 26 July 2024, the European Union (EU) added the group The Base to its list of terrorist entities, which now counts 22 entities (all foreign-based) and 15 individuals. This decision is particularly significant as this is the first far-right entity listed by the EU, indicating a change in the threat landscape and a clear political shift of counter-terrorism priorities. The Base is already designated as a terrorist organisation by Canada (2021), the United Kingdom (2021), Australia (2021), and New Zealand (2022). Although the United States (US) considers domestic terrorism a key threat (including groups such as The Base), no domestic terrorist organisations are designated as such, which remains a contentious issue. This article offers some insights into the reasoning behind this EU decision, and its implications, as well as some background information on The Base. What is The Base? The Base is a networked organisation formed in 2018 in the US. It has come together as an alleged paramilitary/survivalist outfit, although its ideology is clearly inspired by neo-nazism, anti-semitic conspiracies, and “Siege Culture”. Its members adhere to white supremacism, and are convinced that the white race is threatened by immigration, interracial marriages, and declining birthrates, amongst other issues. They see diversity in all its forms (including ethnic or sexual) as an existential threat, and as a remedy are keen to foster the emergence of a separatist and all-white ethnostate. The group adheres to so-called “militant accelerationism,” that is, the usage of political violence or terrorism “in pursuit of the destruction of the physical manifestations [of..] modernity, liberalism, and capitalism.” Similar to several other far-right groups, such as Atomwaffen Division or Feuerkrieg Division, their strategy is to exploit existing crises and divisions within the society to effectively “accelerate” its collapse, in the hope of shaping a new world order on its ashes. Specifically, through acts of political violence and terrorism, they aim to provoke a race war, which they believe is already underway, to ensure separation of races, cultures, and ideologies into neat ethnically-based regions or states. Although the strategy of accelerationism is currently mostly associated to right-wing violent extremism, it is in fact common to many terrorist organisations sharing the belief that some fundamental revolution is underway, or possible, and that they constitute the vanguard to trigger it. On the jihadi side, this theory was notably articulated in Abu Bakr Naji’s “Management of Savagery,” which suggested the need to destabilise Muslim countries through terrorism in order to facilitate the emergence of a caliphate. The Base is a transnational organisation, with a relatively small but international membership, mainly across North America, Australia and Europe. It has some structure and leadership, including a central “vetting process” for new recruits, but it also promotes decentralized “leaderless resistance” as a conscious model, that is the creation of small autonomous cells of two to three members in order to limit the risks of infiltration and criminal investigation by law enforcement services. This model is reminiscent of al-Qaeda’s system of franchises and relatively autonomous international cells, although on a lower scale. Interestingly, the name “The Base” is the English translation of “al-Qaeda” (it is unclear whether this was intentional or not, although one of the group’s leaders expressed admiration on social media for the jihadi group’s tactics). Albeit US-centred, The Base’s ideas and narratives are transferable to other countries, facilitated by the use of English language in global online platforms (such as Telegram or Whatsapp). Some of the seminal works underpinning accelerationist groups, such as James Mason’s Siege, are available in English. English is also the lingua franca of the Terrorgram collective, a network of Telegram accounts promoting “accelerationist” ideas, which “produce[s] and disseminate[s] violent propaganda to encourage those who consume its content to engage in terrorist activity.” Terrorgram inspired the perpetrator of the terrorist attack against the LGBTQI+ community in Bratislava, in October 2022, and its members may have provided some practical assistance in the process of attack preparation.
via icctl: The Base, and the Basis for Listing Far-Right Terror Groups
siehe auch: Sanctions against terrorism: Council renews the EU Terrorist List and designates a new entity The Council decided today to add the entity “The Base” to the EU Terrorist List. The Base is an organisation of right-wing extremists involved in terrorist acts, which was founded by Rinaldo Nazzaro in 2018. The sanctions are effective as of today. Following its listing, The Base is subject to the freezing of its funds and other financial assets or economic resources in EU member states. It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to the organisation; EU adds neo-Nazi group ‘The Base’ to terrorism list US-founded group operates in several countries; classification as terror organization subjects it to harsh sanctions. The EU on Friday added The Base, a neo-Nazi group founded in America that is active in several other countries, to its “terrorist” list, subjecting it to immediate sanctions. “The Base is an organization of right-wing extremists involved in terrorist acts, which was founded by Rinaldo Nazzaro in 2018,” the Council of the European Union said in a statement. The sanctions comprise a travel ban, a freeze of any assets in Europe, and a ban on EU citizens or companies providing funds to the group. The Base seeks “to accelerate the downfall of the United States government, incite a race war, and establish a white ethno-state,” the FBI said in court documents reported by the BBC.