In April 2026, the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs forwarded to the Ministry of Justice a letter from the Tajik Interior Ministry. It was not a diplomatic note. It was a dossier formally titled “Procedural Materials Regarding the Extradition of the Citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan, Wanted Person, Shukurov Firdavs Tojiddinovich – Member of an Extremist-Terrorist Organization.”
The cover letter, signed in Vienna on April 24, informed the Austrian Justice Ministry that Dushanbe had transmitted files on not one but 18 individuals who, in the words of the Tajik Interior Ministry’s own letter, “have sought refuge on the territory of the Republic of Austria.”
That phrase – “have sought refuge” – should give European governments pause. Dushanbe is not merely asserting that it knows where these 18 people live. It is acknowledging, in its own request for their extradition as alleged terrorists, that they fled to Austria as refugees. The 18 individuals named in the request are alleged members of organizations Tajikistan has designated as extremist and terrorist: Group 24, Salafiya, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), and the National Alliance of Tajikistan. Austria itself has not made such designations.
