Krakow shooting reflects Europe’s shifting extremist threat

Researchers say the case comes amid a broader shift in political violence: perpetrators are increasingly young and isolated, with fewer ties to organized political groups. They point to the growth of nihilistic extremist violence, a decentralized form of violence driven by misanthropy and a desire to create chaos rather than a coherent political program.

“The Krakow case fits this mold,” said Daniela Pisoiu, a senior researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs. She said the suspect followed right-wing extremist material, participated in online true-crime communities, faced psychological problems and had dreamed of killing many people.

Since 2024, incidents of nihilistic extremist violence in the EU have risen more than fivefold, according to data collected by the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University. A 2025 report by the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator said the phenomenon was rapidly spreading across online ecosystems populated mainly by minors and young adults, and that related incidents in member states were increasing.

Many attackers are radicalized online but have little contact with political organizations or other people, making them harder for security services to identify and track, said Thomas Renard, director of the Hague-based International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. The Krakow suspect reportedly visited websites about Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, according to Poland’s justice minister. Pisoiu said he also read right-wing extremist websites and was interested in true crime.

Renard and a report for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue cite mental health issues as another factor. The EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator says most perpetrators of nihilistic extremist violence are young men. Pisoiu said status and recognition have become more important to some attackers than political goals, with attention on social media’s reaction to their actions.

Europol recorded 130 terrorism suspects aged 18 or younger arrested across the EU in 2025; the average age of suspects was 27. An Interpol report links the rise in young suspects to digital radicalization, social isolation and manipulation. Europol says social media, encrypted messaging services and online communities have become settings where radicalization takes place.

Renard also warned that attackers are using artificial intelligence chatbots and large language models to plan attacks. He said this may not increase the number of attacks, but could make lone-actor violence more lethal. Political scientist Stefan Marschall of HHU Dusseldorf argued that radicalization has deeper causes than digitization, including dissatisfaction among people who feel unrecognized by the political system. More security and surveillance, he said, “only address the results and not the reasons.”