KCSS PART OF THE PAVE PROJECT IMPLEMENTED IN SEVEN COUNTRIES BY 13 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), the leading organization in Kosovo for research on security issues, is  part of an international consortium to implement a three-year project funded by the European Union instrument Horizon2020 called the PAVE project.

PAVE (Preventing and Addressing Violent Extremism through Community Resilience in Western Balkans and the MENA region) aims to address the global issue of radicalization by examining the main causes and root factors.

KCSS will lead research attempts on physical and online radicalization and de-radicalization. The research will be conducted in Kosovo, North Macedonia, as well as in Lebanon, and Tunisia, and the results will help in extracting an important comparative analysis. The focus will be on researching the vulnerability factors, as well as the factors that give the communities power to resist or repel the influence of radicalization.

Mentor Vrajolli, Executive Director of KCSS, said that it is a great achievement for the organization to be part of this international research program, and taking into account that there is an increase in forms of various radicalisms and violent extremism in Europe and  around the world, there is a need for a common policy strategy and effective preventive measures. Furthermore, he added that it is particularly important to look at the local, regional and national contexts of extremism, to draw a concrete conclusion for EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, and to expand the scope of EU’s external engagement. Mr. Vrajolli explained that the focus of this project is not only on religion-based radicalism but also on ethnopolitical radicalism, which he claims to be worrisome, especially for Kosovo.