Deputy FM Klisović: True unity and cooperation preconditions for security

Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Joško Klisović attended along with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ranko Ostojić a conference on “Tackling Jihadism Together: Shaping, Preventing, Reacting”

Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Joško Klisović attended along with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ranko Ostojić a conference on “Tackling Jihadism Together: Shaping, Preventing, Reacting”, held 20 March 2015 in Vienna.

“True unity and cooperation are an important precondition for security,” Klisović said, underlining for key elements of a successful fights against terrorism and extremism: open cooperation among countries and international organizations; unified and functional legal basis for joint action; active and constant communication with the public in order to delegitimize the ideology of violence; and long-term engagement in eliminating the factors that create fertile ground for terrorism, such as poverty, ignorance, unequal opportunities and economic exclusion.

Both Ostojić and Klisović warned of the danger of equating terrorism and extremism with any religious or ethnic group, highlighting that Islam as a religion did not legitimize violence and noting the Muslim minority in Croatia as an excellent example of full integration, coexistence and mutual respect.

The conference was hosted by Austrian Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz. Its goal was to gather representatives from said ministries in the region in order to discuss the issues of terrorism and extremism in Europe, the importance of prevention, activities directed at preventing the recruitment of new members, locating the recruiting spots, transit routes in the region, as well as rehabilitation and informing the public, notably young people.

In attendance were representatives of Croatia, Albania, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU Counterterrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove, Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights Morten Kjaerum and EUROPOL Deputy Director Oldrich Martinu.

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