TIRANA, July 23 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has sent a letter to Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri to express gratitude to the Albanian government for hosting the Balkans Regional Summit to Counter Violent Extremism, held back in May in Tirana.
“The Balkans Summit, the first in a series of regional summits to counter violent extremism, was critically important for building regional support and will ensure more governments follow Albania’s example in announcing concrete initiatives on countering violent extremism at the leaders’ meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September,” the letter noted.
Kerry praised Albania’s initiative to include civil society representatives in the summit as a very positive element with a crucial role to play in countering violent extremism.
“As President Obama noted at the White House summit in February, civil society, especially women, youth and religious minorities, have an important role to play in countering violent extremism,” Kerry stated.
He added, “only together – by collaborating between our governments, civil society and the private sector – can we achieve our joint goal of preventing the rise of violent extremism.”
