The sovereign citizens movement, originating in the US, inherently poses a threat to liberal democracy. Recent violent acts committed by the German Reichsbürger have demonstrated that its ideas are spreading also across the European continent, facilitated by social media and connections to the extreme-right scene. It is characterized by the promotion of a negative conception of sovereignty and distinct strategies, particularly the adoption of so-called paper terrorism and the creation of parallel economic structures. This study aims to qualitatively compare the movement’s key characteristics with the case of two factions of sovereignists operating in Czechia that have emerged in recent years: the Association of Legitimate Creditors of Czechia, formed around entrepreneur Jan Macháček, and a heterogeneous group of sovereign citizens who identify themselves as supporters of two figures associated with the dissemination of conspiracy theories. The study seeks to answer whether these groups should be classified primarily as extremist or anti-system actors. The article concludes that while both cases employ paper terrorism strategies, the role of ideology and the negative conception of sovereignty then varies in intensity. The movement aligns most closely with the concept of anti-government extremism, which fills a conceptual gap at the intersection of anti-system space and extremism.
