Pata: Balkan countries not prepared to confront terrorist threats

Political analyst and editor of the Tirana-based daily Tema Ili Pata believes that Albanian intelligence services have not taken adequate measures to address the threat of terrorist attacks, such as the recent attack on the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, and that Balkan countries are not sufficiently prepared to deal with this type of threat.

Pata said that Albanian intelligence services had left the issue to politicians and relied on religious tolerance within society.

“In other countries, such as Italy and France, not to mention Israel, they have managed to recognize the risk posed by these groups. Here, we have not yet understood that. That is why we are not prepared. We have the example of the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade. Serbia is one of the countries with well-developed security services, but even there they showed tolerance for years, perhaps to avoid disrupting interreligious relations in the country. These groups were given room to operate, and I do not think Serbia is sufficiently prepared for a situation like this either,” Pata said.

He recalled that the attacker in Belgrade had managed to injure a member of the Gendarmerie with a knife.

“That shows that even the Gendarmerie officer himself was unable to respond appropriately, despite being trained to deal with such situations. That is the situation, and I believe all our Balkan countries are unprepared for this kind of conflict,” Pata said.

Pata also believes that the terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade was not the result of any problem or deterioration in Serbia’s relations with Middle Eastern countries, nor, in his view, was it connected to interreligious relations in Serbia.

“We must emphasize that Serbia has very good relations with all Arab countries and the Gulf states, as well as with Israel. In a way, this is a continuation of the former Yugoslavia’s tradition of successful diplomacy toward the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. It is well known that Tirana and Belgrade are the only two capitals in the Balkans where Palestine has had an embassy since the 1990s. This event, or these events, are not caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nor are they connected to the situation there. I do not even believe that Iran is behind these attacks, given that it has been a long-standing partner of Serbia and has developed relations with it. These are typical provocations aimed at creating a situation in the Balkans that would appear to be connected to the Middle East, while artificially fueling religious fanaticism, which is not a natural phenomenon in our countries but is being encouraged from outside,” Pata said.

Pata claimed that such developments were occurring because they served Turkey’s interests.

“Turkish influence in the Balkans, which is primarily political but also extends beyond formal diplomacy, is exercised through certain foundations, groups and individuals who have become radicalized and use strongly anti-Israel rhetoric. Israel is now launching a diplomatic offensive. It has reached an agreement with Greece, one of the largest in Europe, providing the country with an air-defense package. There are also agreements with Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia, and these are significant deals. The same applies to Croatia and Republika Srpska,” Pata said.

Finally, Pata said that the Balkans were a highly dynamic region and that this was precisely why competing interests frequently collided there.