Several media report on the latest Kosovo Security Barometer – a program published by the Pristina-based Kosovar Centre for Security Studies – titled “The citizens’ views against violent extremism and radicalization in Kosovo”. The main findings of the study are as follows:
– The general trends show that civilian respondents share more positive perceptions towards religious institutions than state ones. Citizens who claimed they trust the Government’s work amount to 14 percentage, those trusting the courts to about 22 percent, compared to the religious institutions where the trust is at 57 percentage.
– Traditionally Kosovar citizens have respected religious institutions in Kosovo, but their views do not necessarily reflect the work conducted by these institutions. A closer examination of the results shows that there are differences between rural and urban areas in terms of trust in religious institutions. E.g. about 65 percentage of the interviewed citizens living in rural areas trust religious institutions, compared to 49 percentage of those living in urban areas. However, contacts with religious institutions are of a low level.
– About 76 percentage of citizens see terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al-Nusra as very dangerous while 8 percentage see these organizations as posing a medium threat.
– About 55 percentage said that Kosovar citizens who returned from the Syria and Iraqi wars should be subjected to strict programs of reintegration, rehabilitation, and de-radicalisation. Another 22 percentage of the respondents think they should be arrested at the very moment of their return to Kosovo, while 15 percentage think they should be banned from returning to Kosovo.
– Lastly, about 57 percentage of respondents said the Kosovar Government has failed to combat violent extremism and radicalization in Kosova, on the other hand about 35 percentage of the respondents see the Government’s work as somewhat successful in combating and preventing violent extremism in Kosovo.
The full program can be found at: http://www.qkss.org/repository/docs/Raporti_final_CVE-Barometri_anglisht_583308.pdf
