Profiling and identification of returning foreign fighters focus of OSCE international conference in Ohrid
Best practices in dealing with violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT), particularly the challenge of returning foreign fighters, is the focus of a three-day international conference that opened in Ohrid on 16 October 2018.
The conference, which brings together domestic and international experts from the region and also Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey, is organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje in co-operation with the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“Acts of terrorism, radicalization to violent extremism and the phenomenon of returning foreign fighters are international challenges for law enforcement agencies,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Clemens Koja, in his opening remarks. “It is important that we look at those challenges with a ‘whole of society’ approach. All stakeholders, governments, local authorities, civil society and communities have an important role to play. Work in our communities at a local level is essential and we hope this conference will provide an opportunity to look at the management of crisis situations caused by violent extremism, and encourage a multi-agency approach in dealing with these situations.”
The country’s Deputy Interior Minister Agim Nuhiu added: “The appearance of foreign fighters is a top priority on the agenda of the international community today, and is a real challenge for international and national legislation because of its new, but also specific nature. This relatively new occurrence in our region and beyond deserves considerable attention, and I believe this international conference is an excellent opportunity to see the whole picture.”
The OSCE Mission previously assisted the government in preparing the National Strategy on Counter-Terrorism and the National Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism and their respective Action Plans in March 2018. The Mission is supporting the implementation of the plans by organizing training courses and international conferences like this one as well as public events at the local level.