Analysts in North Macedonia say that state authorities, educational institutions and the religious community must act to combat religious extremism. According to them, people prone to violence or participation in terrorist acts should be identified, as was the case with a 19-year-old in Vienna, Austria, whose parents originated from Gostivar. According to analysts, more should be done for the reintegration of returnees or prisoners for their participation in the wars of the countries of the Middle East.
Civil society in North Macedonia is engaged in the process of reintegration of persons returned from wars in the Middle East.
But, as Samet Shabani of one of the non-governmental organizations notes, the process has not been so successful. He sees the last case in Vienna as the result of an identity crisis and of not adapting to the environment in the Western countries where those people originating from North Macedonia and the region were born and live.
He calls this alarming situation, while suggesting that the educational system and religious communities, as in Western countries or here in North Macedonia, should do much more to avoid those people from radicalization tendencies.
”The work of religious communities, the narrative that is created by religious communities over the years has a lot to do with these situations that we face today when we are faced with these kinds of consequences, where a young man claims that he can win heaven by making life hell for others.says Mr. Shabani.
Analyst Selim Ibrahimi, an expert on security issues, sees the latest event in Austria as a threat to modern life in general. He estimates that silent cells of terrorist organizations have the ability to commit terrorist acts:
”The growth of radicalism can be done by individuals and small groups. Therefore, a lot of work needs to be done by the religious organizations of the Albanian community in the EU countries, as steps to reduce this force of radicalism that has started. What should be done is that in religious lessons, religion is practiced and used as a form of the individual to connect not with extremist religious organizations but for the purpose of religion”. comments Mr. Ibrahimi.
Hundreds of North Macedonian citizens have joined the Islamic State in recent years. Some of those who returned were sentenced to prison, but the policy of their reintegration did not prove to be quite successful.
Samet Shabani notes that the radicalization of this category of people also takes place in prisons.
”Some of them have already returned, some have finished their prison term, and now another confrontation that society and public institutions are experiencing is further radicalization, either during the prison period or after the prison. The steps that have been taken for the process eriintegration of these cases are relatively weak. A much more efficient approach is needed, especially from public institutions”says Shabani.
“I think that Albanians have a solution to this radicalism, so the only way is to preach religion as a way to move forward and not to dominate and commit acts of terrorism in the EU or in other countries”emphasizes Ibrahimi.
Analysts think that the radicalization or recruitment of young people takes place much more through social networks than through religious communities.
However, with the law on the punishment of those citizens involved in foreign armies and wars and with the weakening of the Islamic State, it is estimated that the number of North Macedonian citizens in terrorist organizations in the Middle East has decreased significantly in recent years.
