Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga welcomed Tuesday’s decision of the Board of the “Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund” (GCERF) taken in Geneva, to include Kosovo in this Fund’s initiatives on prevention and facing of violent extremism through local initiatives.
The Basic Court in Pristina approved the request of the Prosecution to extend the detention for two more months for the five terrorism suspects arrested a few weeks ago near Badovc Lake. "There is a suspicion that the defendants intended to seriously intimidate the population and destabilizing the situation in Kosovo,” reads the ruling of the Pristina Basic Court.
The Kosovo Police have started patrols by boat on Badovc Lake. The decision came after the recent incidents on the shores of the lake where several people were arrested who are suspected to be associated with terrorist organizations.
Kosovo Police Director Shpend Maxhuni said in a meeting of the Assembly’s commission on security that Kosovo is not a producer of religious extremism but a target. He also spoke about the need to investigate exact activity of certain non-governmental organisations in Kosovo. Maxhuni said that according to police information, there are 300 persons from Kosovo fighting alongside IS in Syria.
The Basic Court in Pristina has issued a thirty-day detention period for five men arrested over the weekend on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. The court found that there is credible suspicion that Besnik Latifi, Enis Latifi, Milazim Haxhiaj, Gazmend Haliti and Fehmi Musa are responsible for planning terrorist acts in the territory of Kosovo.
Kosovo’s President, Atifete Jahajga, met today with the US Presidential Special Envoy to the Global Coalition Against ISIS, General John Allen. Jahjaga informed Allen with actions taken by the Kosovo institutions and security mechanisms to prevent the global terrorism threat. General Allen praised Kosovo’s membership in the Global Coalition in the fight against ISIS and its participation in the Working Group of the Coalition for the distribution of opposing messages.
The US State Department report “Kosovo 2015:Crime and Safety” states that the international/transnational terrorism threat in Kosovo is similar to that faced by most European nations. “The presence of U.S. military units provides anti-American terrorists with potential targets. Kosovo has seen a rise in Islamic extremism in recent years. In the summer of 2014, police arrested over 60 individuals on suspicion of participating in or supporting the fighting in Syria and Iraq.