The Western Balkans region has become a recruiting ground for the Islamic State, Serbian Internal Affairs Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told a conference on terrorism in Russia yesterday, TV N1 reported.

 A press release from the Serbian Internal Affairs Ministry said that Stefanovic told the conference that most of the combatants the Islamic State recruited were from Bosnia and Kosovo with about 800 of them going to Syria and Iraq.

“Terrorism has significantly changed the international security scene and we have to adapt to the new reality in which terrorists can attack virtually anyone, anywhere and at any time to cause the maximum damage and kill as many people as possible,” Stefanovic said.

He said the security situation in Kosovo is especially challenging for Serbia because of the large number of extremists with links to the Islamic State. “The international community has mainly ignored that fact despite its active role in Kosovo,” Stefanovic said and added that the key element in Serbia’s fight against terrorism is constant, intensive cooperation with other countries and international organizations, TV N1 reported.