BIA: Preventive action against Islamic extremism

BELGRADE - Director of the Security Information Agency (BIA) Aleksandar Djordjevic stated on Wednesday that Serbia invested considerable efforts in the fight against terrorism and Islamic extremism in the previous period.

Addressing the Rose-Roth Seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in the Serbian parliament building, Djordjevic underscored that BIA is intensely working on identification of individuals wishing to fight on battlefields abroad.

BIA action is continuous and it is aimed primarily at preventive identification of individuals staying in war zones and those who have already returned, Djordjevic said.

The number of people from Serbia staying in Syria and the Near East is slight since as few as 25 Serbian citizens are staying in the region, he said and added that he does not have exact data concerning Kosovo-Metohija where he believes the problem is more prominent.

After the adoption of the law to ban Serbian citizens from participating in wars abroad, a large number of them returned to the country, primarily those who were staying in Ukraine, he said.

Djordjevic also pointed to the connection between extremist Islamists from the Balkans and similar structures in Europe.

UGLJANIN AGAINST YOUNG PEOPLE GOING TO BATTLEFIELDS ABROAD

Chairman of the Bosniak National Council in Serbia Sulejman Ugljanin said Wednesday that the number of those leaving the Sandzak region to fight in Syria and Iraq was small and they were doing it because of influences from outside.

Ugljanin, who is also leader of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak, strongly condemned such activities, stressing that efforts were being made on the ground every day to prevent that from happening.

Speaking...