NATO sets up center in Albania to counter radicalism

NATO has decided to open a center in Tirana to help prevent people from trying to join terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, the Albanian Daily News newspaper reported on Saturday.

Albanian Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli said that Tirana's proposal was approved by the alliance's 28 member countries at a time "when the phenomenon of the foreign terrorist fighters has reached considerable levels."

The center will train people from NATO member and partner countries to "understand the causes and reasons of radicalization of the citizens" and find ways to prevent that.

This center will also support projects of the Albanian government for fighting violent extremism and terrorism.

Both predominantly Muslim Albania and neighboring Kosovo, from where a few hundred people have joined rebel groups in Syria and Iraq, claim they have stopped that trend since last year.

Source: XINHUA