Albania Urged to Redouble Efforts against Online Extremist Propaganda

With Albania in the final stages of drafting a new strategy for tackling violent extremism, experts say authorities must do more to address the online propaganda that is helping to radicalise some Albanians.

The current strategy was adopted in 2015, at a time when dozens of Albanian citizens were fighting alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, many taking wives and children with them.

Since the collapse of the Islamic State caliphate in March 2019, Albania has repatriated 24 women and children and is working to reintegrate them.

A new counter-extremism strategy is in the works, but experts say it must do more to tackle online propaganda.

"The fight against extremist propaganda is again partially realised," said Enri Hide, a security expert and professor at the European University of Tirana. "Since there is no proper strategy for addressing online propaganda, there are no mechanisms created by government actors for this."

Instead, he said, "community outreach is largely driven by the contribution of civil society, the support of international donors and international organisations."

Family members and relatives of Albanians blocked in Syria are seen in this photo of 14 September 2020 during a protest aimed in urging the government to help for their repatriation. Photo: Nensi Bogdani/BIRN

'Not enough progress'

The current strategy identified three main priorities - education, tackling propaganda, and drafting comprehensive policies.

Besides this, in 2020, the government adopted an inter-sectorial document for the fight against terrorism, spanning 2021 to 2025 and an action plan for the period 2021 to 2023. In this, one of the policies concerned terrorism activities via...

Continue reading on: