USA Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall urged the countries in the Balkan region to promote cooperation in preventing recruitment of Islamist fighters.

During a two-day conference of experts for security in the Western Balkans and representatives of some EU member states in Tirana, Sewall said that according to the study funded by the US, 700 people, mostly from Bosnia and Kosovo, joined the rebels in Syria and Iraq.

The Western Balkans has become a source of terrorist fighters in Iraq and Syria, partly because of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, assessed Sewall. "Violent extremism is spreading geographically and no region, no country, no community is immune to this threat," said Sewall and called on the countries in the region to enhance cooperation in preventing the recruitment of Islamist fighters and to adopt national strategies to combat this problem.

The White House in February launched a program to combat violent terrorism.