Threat of jihadist terrorists coming over from the Balkans
17.9.2021
Question for written answer E-004285/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Jean-Paul Garraud (ID)
A report by French counter-terrorism services warns that jihadist terrorists could arrive from the Balkans in the coming months. Hundreds of Da'esh fighters who fled Syria or Iraq have found refuge in the Balkans, notably in Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
In these countries, the terrorists have been able to rely on criminal infrastructures that were never properly dismantled and have been taken over by Albanian guerrilla groups that are still active in the region and are becoming ever more fundamentalist in their Islamic views.
In Kosovo, hundreds of jihadists – mostly ethnic Albanians from various countries – are studying Arabic and a radical version of the Qur’an, and are learning how to use weapons, explosives and different guerrilla tactics[1].
Furthermore, secret documents mentioning the creation of an independent Da'esh structure in the Balkans was found in possession of the commando leader (a jihadist from Macedonia) involved in the November 2020 terrorist attack in Vienna.
- 1.Does the Commission know exactly what these secret documents contained? Can it confirm the presence of these jihadists?
- 2.How does it intend to better protect citizens against terrorists covertly entering the EU?
- [1] https://blogs.mediapart.fr/segesta3756/blog/300716/kosovo-daech-entraine-les-terroristes-sous-les-yeux-de-lotan-et-de-lue