Hello everybody. Minister Hyseni, representatives from the Kosovo Police, General Director Maxhuni, State Prosecutors, people from other agencies, Mr. Shtuni.
Thank you very much for inviting me to speak at the conclusion of this important workshop, and especially thank you to the Minister and the General Director for their leadership in dealing with this important issue.
This training program, I think, comes at a critical time in our joint counterterrorism efforts. The threat we all face from violent extremism and terrorism continues to evolve rapidly. To succeed against this constantly changing enemy, we need to adapt our approaches as well in order to tackle it effectively.
A major part of this approach is partnership. When facing a common threat, the United States needs partners like Kosovo. The drivers of radicalization are often different in every country, and in each community. We cannot be successful in countering extremism unless the real experts in each community confront the challenge. That is why we have reached out to you, Kosovo’s police and prosecutors, as our front-line partners. Partners that we work with daily to identify, prevent, investigate, and prosecute violent extremists.
Over the last four days of this workshop, you have covered a range of issues from understanding the challenges of violent extremism in the digital era to learning how to monitor radicalization and recruitment efforts. You know from this course and your daily work that countering violent extremism and terrorism is a serious challenge facing not only Kosovo, but of course, the entire world.
The United States remains committed to assisting you in your own efforts. I would like to thank the instructors and my colleagues from the Department of Justice and elsewhere for organizing this program.
Certainly I want to congratulate everyone for working so hard in the service of your country and I am proud that the United States has partners like Kosovo in this important struggle.
Thank you very much.
