Designing a long-term strategy and implementing effective policies to successfully deal with radical Islam on Western soil can no longer be delayed. In the immediate future, strong rule of law nations must deal with enemies within our midst which are facilitating:

1) Terrorism financing.
2) Weapons supply.
3) Terrorists crossing borders.

In each of these areas, the Balkan region and the perilous Balkan Route continue to play a major role.

Radical Islamists brutally killed 17 individuals in the twin Paris attacks. The UK’s Telegraph reported on January 11 that the Paris state prosecutors’ office believed that firearms used by Charlie Hebdo attackers likely came from the Balkans: « Police estimates suggest that there are over 4,000 military-grade weapons from the former Yugoslavia in France. » French Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud recapitulated with Bret Baier at Fox News’ Washington, DC, studios on January 14, « Now, weapons in Europe are coming from the Balkans – lots of Kalashnikovs. »

Terrorism Financing

An earlier piece on FATCA shed light on money laundering via Austria and Liechtenstein’s banking and corporate entities, and organized crime networks in the Balkans. The Balkan Route’s heroin, arms, human and organ trafficking merges with cocaine trafficking coming from Latin America. Reports indicate that Balkan heroin trafficking brings in more than $20 billion proceeds annually, providing financing for Al Qaeda and Hezbollah.

The Balkan Route originates in Afghanistan, where 75% of the world opium is produced (and trafficked via Iran, Turkey, and the countries of the Balkans to Western Europe).

In 2006, US Embassy cable stated, « Heroin from the Middle East transits Albania and Kosovo, crossing Montenegro before being transported further into Western Europe. »

In June 2014, the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) issued the statement of concern regarding deficiencies in the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in Bosnia and Herzegovina – placing it on the watch list together with North Korea and Iran.

Weapons Supply

On January 11, 2015, an AP report stated, « …[I]t is relatively easy for terrorists with underworld connections to obtain heavy weapons on the black market, particularly in the Balkan countries of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. »

EUROPOL’s Organised Crime Threat Assessment from 2011, reported on military grade arms which are trafficked from the Western Balkans and pose the EU’s internal security threat, « The figure of 4 million unregistered illegal war firearms in the Balkans is well-known and remains deeply worrying. »

Croatia was selling arms to Syria via Jordan in 2013. The unanswered questions remained: Where did all these arms come from, to whom were they sold, and, who got the proceeds from the sales?

A relevant US Embassy cable from 2007 reported:  » … several groups in Montenegro that deal mainly in drugs and arms smuggling are connected with criminals from neighboring countries, Western Europe and South America. »

Border Crossing

Although we assume that the Balkan Route operations are driven primarily by financial gain and radical Islam by ideology, in the areas of arms and drugs trafficking, the distinction between organized crime, mafia states, terrorism financing and radical Islam becomes blurred.