During his stay in New York, Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj attended the high-level meeting hosted by Jordan, France, and New Zealand.

Debates in this meeting focused on the international efforts to put in place the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, as well as on the examination of the achievements hitherto in the framework of the French and Jordanian initiatives regarding avoidance of use of internet for motifs relating to violent extremism and terrorism.

In reference to his attendance of this meeting, in a Facebook post Acting Minister Cakaj wrote that, aside from the military and territorial victory over ISIL, joint engagement to deal with whatever space available for narratives encouraging extremist and violent acts remains another challenge.

According to Cakaj, this calls for wider coordination of the efforts made by the high tech companies, the civil society, and the religious communities, as well as the governments from the relevant countries.

‘Albania has historically been an example of inter-religious harmony, and in many committed efforts, has led the fight against terrorism and violent extremism through its security mechanisms. Moreover, Albania stands out across the region at large for having developed specific curricula designed to help undo distorted interpretations of various religious doctrines. Hence, Albania’s commitment to the fight against terrorism and violent extremism is in compliance with the contemporary challenges, and in full coordination with the international partners,’ Cakaj writes in the end.