Hungary continues to undertake a leading role in the fight against terrorism as under the Hungarian Chairmanship of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe, Hungary is coordinating not only the cooperation of Hungary and the European Union but also that of the Balkan countries, Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér stressed.
„Combating terrorism requires coordinated police and secret service work. (…) By ensuring a smooth flow of information, we provide significant assistance, as part of this coordinating activity, in the fight against terrorism”, the Hungarian Interior Minister said.
Attendees of the conference agreed that terrorism is a global problem which affects everyone, and we must therefore take joint action to combat it.
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic takes the view that terrorism and its financial resources most frequently take their roots in illegal arms trafficking, money laundering, and drugs and human trafficking; consequently, we must equally fight these phenomena. The Minister highlighted that the Western Balkans are becoming an attractive target for Islamic extremists who are increasingly recruiting fighters from this region.
Michael Davenport, Head of the EU delegation to Serbia believes that terrorist groups active in the Middle-East and in Syria pose the greatest risk, along with mercenaries who take part in the fights and then return to their native countries. At the same time, he pointed out that religion must not be used to justify crimes.
The two-day conference on foreign terrorist fighters, preventing radicalisation, and combatting terrorism was attended by representatives of the defence and internal affairs agencies of Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Albania, Turkey, Romania and Croatia.