Seven people have been arrested in Macedonia, linked to the attempted arson of a religious site of the Jewish community in Skopje on 12 April. According to the National Security Agency (ANB), the arrested are members of „a radical group ideologically tied to the global network of the Islamic State". Two of the seven remain in custody and will face prosecution - with a specific charge of terrorism.

The timing matters. From 12 April - when the attempt happened - to 1 May, when this is announced. Thirty days for investigation, identification and arrests across a network. That is a working tempo. And unlike many domestic cases where the „investigative period" stretches across years, this criminal operation was coordinated and fast.

What „logistical network" actually means. According to the ANB, the arrested are „part of a radical group with an established logistical network". Translation: these are not idiots who spontaneously decided to attack. These are people with support - financial, informational and operational. That means that in Macedonia, in 2026, there is an active structure of ISIS-aligned actors. Not one, not two. A structure.

For the public, this should open a different conversation. Macedonia has a small Jewish community - fewer than 200 people. They are the remnant of a large pre-war community deported and murdered by the Nazis in 1943. The Holocaust left Macedonia with one of the smallest Jewish communities in Europe. Now, 80 years later, that same community is again a target.

The question that isn't being asked: who is radicalising them. Which educational systems, which online communities, which financial channels are feeding „a radical group with a logistical network" inside a country of two million people. Without an answer to that question, arresting seven people is not a solution - it is temporarily closing one pipe while the water keeps flowing.

In the Balkan context, this is not isolated. Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania and Macedonia have all been listed as areas where „sleeper cells" exist - inactive but coordinated. When a trigger appears - regional conflicts, Israeli-Palestinian escalation, the Iranian crisis - they activate. That is infrastructure, not terrorism. It is a strategic risk that has existed at least since 2014, and that, from 2026, is again escalating.