We must be open as to why 150 citizens of FYROM joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq. This was declared by the US ambassador to Skopje, Jess Baily, in front of foreign security experts, who, in the next three days, will discuss issues of terrorism and violent extremism.

Baily said that the prevention of terrorism requires the contribution of everyone.

“There won’t be a solution unless everyone starts to address the problem sincerely and directly. This is one of the pillars of this dialogue: open dialogue based on mutual trust to identify how we can work better to address this problem”, ambassador Baily said.

Meanwhile, PM Zoran Zaev says that threats coming from radicalism can only be tackled through a wide regional cooperation.

“Threats from foreign fighters are a concern for all Balkan countries, therefore a bigger cooperation is needed by improving border security and making tougher security laws”, Zaev said.

Vladimir Pivovarov, former head of the Secret Services and expert on issues of security, says that the country’s institutions have not reacted in time in the prevention of these activities which threaten stability.

“Time has come to make security services more professional. Politics must not interfere in the work of security institutions. If this doesn’t happen, the consequences for the country in terms of security will be unpredictable”, says security expert, Pivovarov.

Source: balkaneu.com