Balkans Lack the Tools to Fight Terrorism

The American State Department report says that while most Balkan countries co-operate well with international partners to improve anti-terrorism policies, they still have problems in terms of co-operation among institutions and limited resources.

Facing a global increase in terrorism involving radical Islamic elements in the Balkans, the majority of countries in the Balkan region have conspicuously improved anti-terrorism policies, but some still have difficulties with the lack of capacities, experience and resources, the US State Department report said.

The 2016 State Department report on terrorism published Wednesday cited Turkey as a source and transit country for foreign terrorists desiring to join the Islamic State and other terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq.

He emphasises that Turkey suffered nine terrorist attacks in 2016, while Turkish anti-terrorism led to the death or capture of key jihadists, including the head of a Islamic State cell in the province of Gaziantep, which led Suruc (Sanliurfa) and the railway station in Ankara in 2015.

However, the report says that despite being active in fighting jihadist terrorism on both its territory and Syria, Turkish anti-terrorism legislation has also been used to target opponents of the government, journalists and activists.

In Albania the report highlights its strong support for efforts to combat terrorism in 2016. She has continued to participate in the United States-led Global Coalition to protest I SIS, making significant donations to weapons and ammunition.

On November 4th and 5th, a co-ordinated regional anti-terrorism operation led to the arrest of four people in Albania allegedly planning an attack on the Albania-Israel World Cup qualifying match, to be organised in Shkodra on November 12th.

They were accused of financial and logistical support, recruiting people on behalf of the Islamic State and promoting hate speech.

Despite this progress, corruption combined with a weakly functioning judicial system continues to undermine law enforcement efforts in Albania at all levels and could also interfere with its anti-terrorism activities, the report warns.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, extremist Islamic ideology and extremist regional nationalist groups remained possible sources of violent extremism in the country, the US State Department notes.

A number of Bosnian citizens have travelled to Syria and Iraq to support the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but continued efforts to prevent violent extremism resulted in the influx of foreign terrorist fighters compared to previous years.

Bosnian officials and media sources have estimated that about 300 Bosnian citizens have been headed to destinations like Iraq and Syria since 2013, about 50 of them have returned, the report announced.

The report says Bosnian authorities have kept foreign fighters and terrorism suspects under surveillance, but Task Force Against Terrorism headed by the State Prosecutor's Office has continued to hesitate, especially when it comes to co-ordinating between Bosnia and Herzegovina's security and police agencies.

In Bulgaria, the government continued to extradite suspected foreign terrorists and launched a trial against three suspected Syrian terrorist fighters, as well as two suspected accomplices in the bus bombing in Burgas in 2012, the US State Department said.

Bulgaria is also a member of the Global Coalition to Oppose I The SIS and has repeatedly responded to aid requests, as well as provided weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi Iraqi allies of the United States.

In Kosovo, reports stressed that the threat of violent Islamic extremism has increased, partially assisted by financing from foreign organisations preaching extremist ideology and violent extremist groups using social networks to spread propaganda and recruit followers.

Some 315 foreign terrorist fighters from Kosovo have travelled towards Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State or for the al-Nousrah Front, the branch of al-Qaeda in Syria. About 58 were killed, reportedly in the report.

However, the State Department said Kosovo has made progress in prosecuting terrorism suspects. Trials continue for some of the 59 suspects arrested in August 2014 during the government's largest anti-terrorism operation by then. Investigations are also ongoing against dozens of other individuals, including several immamies, while 32 individuals have been arrested on charges related to terrorism, including 18 in November.

Macedonia conducted three important anti-terrorism operations in 2016, one of which was in co-operation with authorities in Albania and Kosovo, leading to the arrest of 23 people in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.

The country co-operates with US anti-terrorism efforts, showing its strong commitment with the Global Coalition to challenge I SIS, the State Department report points out.

In March, the government adopted a national anti-terrorism strategy, but it has not conducted an official study on the promoters of violent extremism in Macedonia.

Analytica, a local research centre, published in October a report highlighting that the driving factors of extremism in Macedonia are similar to the driving factors of the world; highlighted by real and perceived marginalism of the Albanian community in Macedonia.

In Serbia, international terrorism concerns were similar to those of other Western Balkan countries located along the historic transit route between the Middle East and Western Europe, the so-called Balkan “road” that circulates weapons, narcotics and people, the report said.

He emphasises that the immigrant crisis highlighted a series of problems in Serbia's border security, largely compatible with the problems it had in neighbouring countries. In response to the immigrant crisis, Serbia has updated its screening and border security tools with the help of international partners, but reports stress that there are still major gaps in review and processing of data. /Reporter.al/