Rama: Several hundred Islamic extremists in the Balkans

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the refugee crisis could affect Albania via the "Western Balkan route" and warned that there are hundreds of Islamic extremists in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and the south of Serbia, against whom the local authorities are fighting.

"The connectivity of jihadist networks is far more effective than the connectivity of European countries" that seek to destroy them, Rama told the French newspaper Mond.

When asked by Mondo how widespread Islamic jihadists are in Albania, the Prime Minister of Albania replied that "as elsewhere there are extremists" against whom the country is fighting and added that it is estimated that "there are several hundred of them in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and the south of Serbia".

Rama stated that "the Muslim communities of Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and the south of Serbia remain committed to the European and democratic understanding of Islam, which makes them resistant to jihadist temptations and propaganda."

He underlined, however, that local authorities are fighting against Islamic jihadists and that "European cooperation on the ground is necessary to break the highly connected networks of jihadist propaganda and the attraction of supporters."

"And that connection," Rama said, "is much more effective than the connections between the intelligence services of European countries."

When asked if he fears that "another European crisis, which is the 'Western Balkan route' of refugees" will spread to his country, the Prime Minister of Albania responded that it is possible with the assessment that "this crisis is another aspect and expression of the fragility of Europe ".

"What we are seeing today could have been prevented if we had not allowed the crisis in Syria to intensify," said Rama and assessed that national egoisms are hindering actions in the general interest.