Kosovo is our Jerusalem, minister tells Israeli daily

Kosovo is our Jerusalem, minister tells Israeli daily

JERUSALEM -- Aleksandar Vulin, minister in charge of Kosovo in Serbia's caretaker government, has said that Kosovo has both economic and strategic significance for Serbia.

But above all, he told the Jerusalem Post in an interview given ahead of last weekend's elections, it is "the soul of the Serb people."

Vulin at the same time said he was puzzled that the West was ignoring Islamic extremism in the Balkans:

"For me, it is very hard to understand how you can fight al-Qaida in the whole world except in the Balkans. It's something that is over my head, and I cannot understand that kind of policy. In Syria, you have by some estimates around 300 or more jihadist fighters from Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo. I cannot understand how the West can be blind to this kind of 'side effect'."

"We have had this kind of experience with terrorism in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo, where radical Islamic elements are increasingly endangering the stability of the Balkan region. The international community has a large presence in Bosnia and in Kosovo, with thousands of soldiers and a large bureaucracy. And yet they do not pay attention or recognize this danger," he told the Israeli daily.

"For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, you now have Wahhabi villages, whereas in the past there were no such things. Arab sponsors from abroad often send lots of money to mosques, schools or hospitals in the region without realizing that it goes to people who embrace the Wahhabi teaching. That is something that is really very dangerous," Vulin said.

Asked to explain the meaning that Kosovo has for Serbs, the minister, who heads the SNS-allied Movement of Socialists...