Online ecosystems are reshaping terrorism, with violence becoming a means of gaining identity, recognition, and belonging, according to an annual Europol analysis published on Monday.

“While jihadist terrorism continues to constitute the most persistent threat, the lines between established terrorist ideologies and other forms of violent extremism are increasingly blurred,” said Anna Sjöberg, head of Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre, in a statement about the release of the European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2026. “The growing influence of newer destabilizing ideologies, alongside traditional extremist narratives, illustrates the evolving nature of the threat.”

Radicalization is no longer dependent on direct contact with established terrorism organizations. Online communities on social media sites, encrypted messaging services, and gaming platforms are now the places where propaganda is shared, radicalization happens, recruitment occurs, and planning for offline actions is reinforced, according to the report. These communities allow terrorist organizations to reach individuals directly, while also creating space for self-radicalized individuals to mobilize on their own.

“The broad reach, rapid connectivity, and ease of information exchange provided by the online environment—combined with its operational security features—were instrumental to terrorist and violent extremist actors across ideological spectrums,” the report explained. “They leveraged the digital domain to reach wide audiences, recruit and mobilize individuals, and facilitate the coordination of both online and offline activities.”

Overall EU Terrorism Trends in 2025

Ten EU member states reported 45 terrorist attacks in 2025, of which 22 were completed, 20 were foiled, and three failed. The 2025 figures mark a decrease from 2024, when 14 member states reported 58 attacks—34 of which were completed. Arrests related to terrorism continued to rise, however, reaching 486 across 21 member states in 2025, compared to 449 in 2024.

EU 2025 Completed, Foiled, and Failed Terror Attacks

	Jihadist	Right-Wing	Left-Wing and Anarchist	Ethno-Nationalist and Separatist	Other/Not Specified	Total
Austria	7	0	0	0	0	7
Belgium	1	0	0	0	1	2
France	10	4	0	0	0	14
Germany	4	0	0	0	0	4
Greece	0	0	1	0	1	2
Ireland	1	1	0	0	0	2
Italy	0	0	11	0	0	11
Malta	0	0	0	0	1	1
The Netherlands	0	0	0	0	1	1
Spain	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total	24	5	12	0	4	45

Most terrorist attacks and plots in the EU in 2025 involved lone actors or small, self-initiated cells that used simple attack methods like bladed weapons, firearms, vehicle ramming, and arson. Of the 45 attacks, the most common modus operandi was stabbing (15), bombing (11), arson (7), shooting (5), damage to property (2), and vehicle ramming (1).

“We have to accept the fact in this day and age that those actors with malicious intent have realized that using simple weaponry is far less risky, far less likely to be detected prior to the event,” Bruce Braes, CPP, PSP, global head of security and public safety consulting at Buro Happold, told Security Management in a previous interview. “And motor vehicles are one of those simple basic weapons that can be used by anybody.”

Right-wing and terrorist groups tended to target civilians, while left-wing and anarchist terrorists focused on law enforcement headquarters and officers. Jihadist groups targeted both civilians and law enforcement. Left-wing and anarchist assailants exclusively targeted private businesses that were linked to the industrial, financial, tourism, and wellness sectors. The perpetrators often cited “the companies’ relations with Israel as the motivating factor for the attack,” the report said.

Merging Motivations

Across all forms of terrorism that Europol tracks—jihadist, right-wing, left-wing, anarchist, and others—researchers are logging an ideological commitment that increasingly coexists with personal grievances and the search for identity, belonging, and recognition. The merging of these motivations is making terrorist ideologies less distinct, as well as making threats harder to identify and anticipate.

For instance, right-wing terrorism and violent extremism narratives are increasingly being influenced by accelerationist concepts, nihilistic justifications for violence, and other violent subcultures and tactics—like hooligan and skinhead subcultures, the manosphere or involuntary celibacy (Incels), and pedo-hunting.

“Ideology no longer acts alone, as violence itself becomes part of the self-identification,” according to the report. “Motivation is more fluid, and radicalization pathways become considerably more difficult to recognize.

“As online ecosystems dissolve traditional ideological boundaries and enable individuals to move between extremist milieus, law enforcement can no longer rely solely on conventional ideological criteria to identify emerging threats,” the report continued. “This leads to a new landscape where terrorism is more fragmented, more adaptive, and less predictable.”

Nihilistic violent extremism is becoming increasingly visible development in the EU. Europol assessed that perpetrators are emerging from decentralized digital communities that glorify violent activities without clear and coherent ideological objectives.

“Embedded within a broader criminal ecosystem, some individuals were driven by violence for its own sake or by other criminal goals,” the report explained. “Others, however, deliberately sought to promote chaos and accelerate what they viewed as the collapse of the existing social order. Individuals or subgroups in this ecosystem could be vulnerable to exploitation by malicious actors seeking to advance their strategic goals.”

One decentralized community in particular—the Com network—showcases this development. Members and adherents are no longer united by a political or religious doctrine, but instead move between extremist narratives, misogyny, nihilism, criminality, and terrorist propaganda that reinforces their identity within the group. Acts of violence are also rewarded with visibility and social capital within the group, with extreme behavior driven by notoriety itself.

The report also documents a recurring trend: young people are increasingly involved in terrorism activities. In 2025, 130 terrorism suspects arrested across the EU were 18 or younger—with the youngest just 12 years old. Many of these young people are both victims of manipulation and perpetrators of violence.

In one case in Italy, authorities arrested a 16-year-old following a search that led to the discovery of knives, axes, and drawings of swastikas. They also found evidence that identified the teenager as the administrator of a messaging app channel where he allegedly shared anti-Semitic content and encouraged violence against Jewish people and foreign nationals. The report said the suspect also expressed support for and glorified mass-casualty attacks.

Terrorist and violent extremist actors leveraged social media algorithms to amplify the reach and visibility of their extremist content, reaching young people and vulnerable individuals who are susceptible to exposure and influence. Actors catered their propaganda to specific social media platforms and audiences.

“For example, users shared mash-ups on vlogging platforms and memes and GIFs on image-sharing services,” the report said. “In some instances, user-generated content was preferred over official propaganda, as it is harder to detect and remove. Users regularly edited and modified branded propaganda to spread it more widely.”

Terrorists and violent extremists will often imitate game-design principles and features—such as competition, rankings, challenges, and rewards—to make it easier for online community members to engage with violent content. This gamification normalizes violence and helps blur the “distinction between online participation and real-world violence,” the report added.

In-Person Meetups Still Matter, For Some

While Europol has been tracking the way that online communities are reshaping terrorism, it found that in-person meetings and interactions are still important for traditional terrorist groups.

Jihadist actors created online spaces for radicalization. Groups and networks that gathered in these online communities would then meet in person to discuss attack plans or travel abroad to join the Islamic State.

Right-wing actors, meanwhile, maintained international networks and would participate in events across the EU—ranging from music concerts and festivals to MMA and boxing tournaments to demonstrations and seminars. These meetups helped individuals connect with others, strengthen their relationships, and foster transnational cooperation, according to the report.

Right-wing groups also typically engaged in physical training activities for martial arts, boxing, survival training, fight clubs, and shooting practice.

“This enabled participants to acquire potentially dangerous skills and tactical knowledge,” the report explained. “These activities often went hand-in-hand with an emphasis on physical fitness, discipline, group cohesion, and personal confidence.”

Left-wing violent extremists also worked to maintain transnational networks, often traveling between member states to strengthen interpersonal ties, share strategies and operational knowledge, and reinforce support for associates in prison or deceased.

“In some cases, prison environments or contacts with released terrorists have also further facilitated radicalization and recruitment,” the report said.

How Extremists are Applying Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also playing a role in furthering the spread of terrorist and violent extremist material. Creators are using generative AI to create “awful but lawful” content that allows them to bypass safeguards for content creation. AI-powered bots are also being used to boost recruitment, generate and share propaganda, and optimize online engagement to promote violent extremist and terrorist ideologies. As Security Management documented earlier this week, some perpetrators are using AI-driven applications to conduct research before carrying out attacks.

“Terrorists and violent extremist actors also utilized existing and emerging technologies to varying degrees to maintain anonymity, avoid being de-platformed or banned, and secure their communications from law enforcement detection,” the Europol report explained. “Users themselves shared instruction materials on operational and online security.”

Some of these measures to preserve anonymity will sound familiar to security practitioners: end-to-end encrypted messaging applications, secure email services, virtual private networks, and Dark Web browsers.

While most plots and attacks in 2025 relied on the use of simple weapons, Europol assessed that violent actors are showing an interest in 3D-printed weapons, bladed weapons designed to evade metal detection, and drones.

“Wider access to the required materials and technical guidance is deemed to have lowered the threshold for would-be perpetrators to explore these options, especially when reinforced by propaganda promoting their use,” the report said. “In 2025, terrorist and violent extremist actors regularly featured uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) systems in their propaganda.”

For more on how terrorism has changed in the European Union, revisit Security Management’s coverage of the 2024 and 2023 reports.

 

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