On the afternoon of November 25, 2025, the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Tirana opened its doors to an ideological debate on the rise and fall of systems \u2013 a favored topic in current global discourse due to the policies pursued by United States President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
The panel featured two professors of the exact sciences, a retired military officer, an activist of the opposition Democratic Party, and the founder of an underground<\/em> movement that researchers classify as belonging to far-right ideology.<\/p>\n Filmed by an amateur camera with tight close-up shots, the panel conveyed an almost dramatic tone.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the end of history now,\u201d says Orsin Bakalli, a serious-looking 29-year-old. \u201cWe did not achieve the end of communism\u2026 but we will now achieve the end of the liberal order,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Bakalli is the founder of \u201cBrerore,\u201d an organization little known beyond narrow online circles, which has recently also been representing itself under the name \u201cBoshti Komb\u00ebtar\u201d (National Axis). Based on publications on its website, \u201cBrerore\u201d claims to be a nationalist and anti-communist movement, while also publishing fascist literature.<\/p>\n Bakalli rejects the term \u201cfar right\u201d as an invention of recent years used for \u201cwitch hunts.\u201d \u201cWe are ultranationalists,\u201d he said at a caf\u00e9 in the former Bllok area in early February, adding: \u201cOur aim is to remake Albania.\u201d<\/p>\n Through open-source intelligence (OSINT) research methods, BIRN identified two other groups that represent themselves with symbols used by 20th-century fascist or Nazi movements. At the center of their propaganda are nationalist narratives about preserving tradition and national identity, as well as positions against communism, the liberal capitalist system, and the LGBT community. Fragmented and with a seemingly small base of supporters, these groups have recently been trying to gain popularity by aligning their ideas with the MAGA movement in the United States.<\/p>\n The November 25 meeting at the Faculty of Natural Sciences (FSHN) conflicts with Albanian legislation, which prohibits higher education institutions from engaging in political activities. However, FSHN administrator Robert Sk\u00ebnderi told BIRN that the activity was not organized by the Faculty, but by the students themselves, who are part of the Student Council.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the afternoons the halls are free because there are no classes, and often students, being part of the Student Council, organize activities and publicize them on social media on their own initiative,\u201d Sk\u00ebnderi said. \u201cOur regulations do not allow political activities inside the institution, but more or less this situation reminds me of the leftist academy that was created,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Limited Influence<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe far right\u201d is an umbrella term used for many groups across the right side of the political spectrum, and the term itself often sparks debate, because it is used to describe very different groups ranging from populist political parties to violent neo-Nazi networks. However, these groups share some common features, such as ultranationalism, sovereigntism, xenophobia, and homophobia \u2013 which appear in different forms depending on the context.<\/p>\n In Albania, far-right ideologies have so far had no electoral success that would allow them to be represented in official politics. Nevertheless, they exist in virtual space and within narrow social circles, while seeking to expand their support base.<\/p>\n Albanian Third Position (ATP) is considered the only openly neo-fascist movement in Albania, according to a 2022 report by the Radicalisation Awareness Network, a network supported by the European Commission. ATP opposes communism, democracy, and the Abrahamic religions, while promoting tradition and paganism. The ATP logo is a symbol known as the \u201cWolfsangel\u201d \u2013 the Wolf\u2019s Hook \u2013 used by Nazi units during World War II. Today this symbol is used by neo-Nazi and far-right groups in Europe, including currents linked to the Third Position. In addition to social media posts, the group publishes photos of its members during outdoor activities or international events. However, its leaders and supporters remain unknown, and their faces are usually covered with the icon of a skull holding a knife in its mouth in social media posts.<\/p>\n Zona Nacionaliste (Nationalist Zone) is another far-right group with a presence only on Telegram. The group displays nationalist symbols and speaks out against \u201cthe LGBT community, drugs, and communism.\u201d Supporters of Zona Nacionaliste also operate in anonymity, using the skull symbol to conceal their identities.<\/p>\n Unlike the two groups above, \u201cBrerore\u201d does not use violent symbols on its social media channels. However, the group promotes fascist literature and supports an exclusionary rhetoric, especially against the LGBT community.<\/p>\n According to far-right researcher Fabio Bego, these groups in Albania currently have limited influence in online environments, in stadiums, and within narrow social circles. But he notes with concern the rhetoric and use of violent symbols as bait to attract more followers.<\/p>\n \u201cAs seen on the ATP and Zona Nacionaliste pages, maintaining anonymity is not something neutral \u2013 it is accompanied by aggressive imagery. Placing skulls in place of faces is a mask used to exert psychological terror against their \u2018enemies,\u2019\u201d said Bego. \u201cFrom a more general standpoint, covering the face, fash-wave aesthetics, or baroque pseudonyms can be ways to give oneself a touch of mystery, to look \u2018cool,\u2019 and to attract followers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n For Michael Colborne, a journalist at Bellingcat specializing in the transnational far right, the functioning of these groups as informal networks without a clear hierarchy is not unique to Albania. According to him, such groups aim to normalize anti-democratic tendencies in society, even when they operate within the bounds of the law.<\/p>\n \u201cThey aim to make anti-democratic, anti-LGBT+, and anti-immigration tendencies, among others, more accepted in mainstream social and political discourse,\u201d Colborne said.<\/p>\n ATP rejects any link to the far right and claimed it was being blindly attacked by ultra-leftist media, in an online exchange with BIRN. ATP also claimed that its symbols had no connection to Nazi or fascist armies, but symbolized a \u201creconnection with tradition, its restoration, and the identity-based roots of Albania.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cATP\u2019s ideological stance is the Political Third Position, a worldview rooted in the national tradition as well as in the European one, from which our country originates and to which it belongs,\u201d ATP declared. \u201cThe Third Position is opposed to the modern world and to the modern democratic political spectrum, and consequently rejects the positions of both the communist left and the capitalist right,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Inspired by MAGA<\/strong><\/p>\n Some representatives of these groups told BIRN that developments in the United States under President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement were helping them express themselves more freely in the public sphere, while others are considering structuring their groups into a political project.<\/p>\n Erjon*, in his 30s, spoke with BIRN on condition of anonymity and said that despite the country\u2019s history and political circumstances, fascist ideas are today more widespread than one might think in Albanian society. He himself is part of a small group of friends who supported the protests led by the \u201cPro Family and Life\u201d Coalition headed by Pastor Akil Pano against the adoption of the \u201cGender Equality\u201d law in November 2025. Erjon also says he positively follows initiatives in defense of the Illyrian-Albanian heritage and those for the de-communization of social, cultural, and educational life.<\/p>\n \u201cToday we are only small groups of friends \u2013 cells of four, five, or ten companions \u2013 with no structural connection between us, who share the same vision and political ideology,\u201d he told BIRN. \u201cPatriotism, traditionalism, family, morality, and religion are still very strong in Albania,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n Bakalli founded \u201cBrerore\u201d in 2018, after returning from the United States and deciding to bring the policymaking model of the MAGA movement to Albania. Recently, he has formed an alliance with \u201cYoung & Conservative\u201d \u2013 a conservative youth organization whose members are linked to the Democratic Party Youth Forum and to the Student Council at the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Bakalli says that his movement\u2019s political stance is entirely in line with the MAGA movement and consistent with the U.S. State Department document reissued by Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil yesterday, talking about what President Trump talks about in America was something that could put you in jail, while Trump today, after three assassination attempts, became president,\u201d Bakalli said, while claiming that he himself had been targeted by the \u201csecurity apparatus.\u201d \u201cSo, the point is that now we have more opportunity to express ourselves, because there had been censorship of dissenting thought,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Transnational Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n The informal Albanian groups that embrace far-right ideologies are divided among themselves, but they are not isolated from contacts or connections with similar groups operating in Europe. Albanian Third Position (ATP) has itself promoted ties with the Ukrainian group Avantguardia, while it was represented at a meeting called \u201cNation Europa\u201d in August 2024 in Lviv, Ukraine. \u201cNation Europa\u201d is described as a pan-European network of neo-Nazi organizations in Europe.<\/p>\n Journalist Michael Colborne has also identified informal connections with individuals from Croatia, Poland, and Italy \u2013 the latter not at all surprising, in his view, given that the Albanian groups are particularly influenced by Italian fascism and far-right tendencies in Italy.<\/p>\n \u201cMoreover, some of these informal connections appear to be linked to football hooliganism and to \u2018allied\u2019 groups or individuals from other countries, although it should be emphasized that these connections are not as deep and strong as those that may exist in other countries, such as Serbia,\u201d Colborne said.<\/p>\n Colborne is of the view that if such groups are allowed to flourish without attention from the media and other actors, then there is a risk that their ideas will gain greater resonance in society, particularly among young men.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile their activities may currently take place within the bounds of the law, their ideas are essentially violent and ultimately centered on violence,\u201d Colborne said. \u201cTherefore, I think there is an obligation to pay attention to these groups and not ignore them simply because they appear \u2018marginal\u2019 or small,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n *The name has been changed to preserve anonymity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the afternoon of November 25, 2025, the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Tirana opened its doors to an ideological debate on the rise and fall of systems \u2013 a favored topic in current global discourse due to the policies pursued by United States President Donald Trump. The panel featured two professors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1054,"featured_media":115789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Several small groups promoting far-right ideologies in Albania are seeking to grow their support base by aligning themselves with U.S. President Donald Trump's MAGA movement.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[23,26,4],"tags":[14408,14406,1170,4222,5548,5038,14410,14414,14415,14407,14411,14413,6261,14412,14409],"coauthors":[2272],"class_list":["post-117712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artikull-kryesor","category-artikull-kryesor-investigime","category-investigime","tag-albanian-third-position","tag-brerore","tag-donald-trump","tag-e-djathta-ekstreme","tag-fabio-bego","tag-fakulteti-i-shkencave-te-natyres-ne-tirane","tag-levizja-maga","tag-michael-coulborne","tag-nation-europa","tag-orsin-bakalli","tag-robert-skenderi","tag-ultranacionalizmi","tag-universiteti-i-tiranes","tag-wolfsangel","tag-zona-nacionaliste"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1054"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117712"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=117712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}