Is Kosovo a breeding ground for Islamists?

[FarCenter]

Almost 2 million people live in Kosovo. Since 2012, 316 people - including women and children - have left the country to join the so-called "Islamic State" terrorist militia. Of those 316 people, 58 have been killed and 117 have returned to Kosovo, said Baki Kelani, spokesman for Kosovo's ministry of the interior. According to Kelani, 237 people are being investigated for planning and taking part in terrorist attacks outside Kosovo and also for recruiting, supporting and funding terrorists. Since 2013, 127 of the suspects have been arrested, including an alleged ringleader.

There is no doubt that radical Islam is a growing problem in the predominately-Muslim Balkan country, especially because Kosovar authorities have little control of the situation despite international support. Behind the numbers lie major social problems: widespread poverty, 40 percent unemployment and a lack of prospects. The ensuing frustration, combined with a growing tendency towards a strict interpretation of Islam, has never been seen before in Kosovo.

According to figures from security experts, 50,000 Kosovars are now members of conservative Islamic groups. The vast majority of the population is Muslim: Albanians, Roma, Turks and Bosniaks. Now, one sees more and more women and girls wearing headscarves in the capital Pristina and not just rural areas. Even fully covered women are no longer a rare sight. It is already obvious that the traditional, liberal Islam of the Ottoman period, strongly influenced by Sufi mysticism, is being suppressed. It is being increasingly replaced by strict forms of the Saudi Wahhabism that has made its way to the Balkans.

In the summer of 2016, the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED) published a study about the influence of religion on Kosovar identity. According to Lulzim Peci, author of the study, 57 percent of Muslim Albanians feel Albanian and 32 percent defined themselves as Muslims first and then as Albanians. "We see a great shift in identity from ethnicity, the so-called language nation, to a religious-ethnic society," said Peci in an interview with DW. If this process continues, the political scientist believes it may lead to the demise of "Albanianism," i.e. Albanian nationalism, and a secular, pro-Western Kosovo.

http://www.dw.com/en/is-kosovo-a-breeding-ground-for-islamists/a-36898392

[dembotoz]

1. Folks look for answers that we at times do not like

Religion is the opiate of the masses?

Does not seem to be a pleasant high

[Dulcinea]

2. My 2 cents

I teach college ESL, & have had Kosovar students. Yes, they're Muslim, but Kosovo is a very secular country, & there were no hijab or burkas in my class. None of my students seemed to have any interest in anything other than improving their English, going to college, getting degrees & helping their country.

That said, Kosovo isn't a wealthy nation, & radicalism could spread there. I hope not.

[FarCenter]

3. Were you teaching in Kosovo?

Students going to college outside of a country are unlikely to be a good cross section of that society.

[Dulcinea]

4. No, stateside...

...but my students were sponsored by a nonprofit. They were from rural areas.