Bosnia calls for comprehensive strategy against terrorism

Bosnia said here Thursday that terrorism and violent extremism are, without any doubt, the most serious of all challenges facing the world today, and the international community should work together for a comprehensive strategy against terrorism.

The statement came as Dragan Covic, the chairman of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, took the floor at the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, which opened here Monday.

Strategies to tackle the twin scourges -- terrorism and violent extremism -- must go beyond military responses and include actions that address the root causes, he said.

While speaking on a wide range of issues in his speech, the chairman emphasized that extremist ideologies characterized by absolute disregard for life are seriously undermining the fundamental values and achievements of civilization.

He believed, however, that limited military responses as the only instrument in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations have only yielded short-term results.

"Along with the decisive, thorough, dedicated and well-coordinated military action, there has to be a comprehensive strategy and holistic approach to combating violent extremism and terrorism, in order to address the root causes of this phenomenon," said Covic.

He regarded lagged reducing poverty and inequality, improving education and providing opportunities to the young generations as "extremely important, even crucial."

On the other hand, he said that eliminating the effects of prejudice and xenophobia in societies and communities remains essential in countering the spread of violent extremism ideology.

Covic stressed that Bosnia and Herzegovina supports the full implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the activities of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, whose past activities are already showing results in strengthening of intergovernmental cooperation and improving the capacity of individual member state in this area.

Calling crisis in Syria having become a challenge for the Middle East until recently, Covic warned that it has spread to other regions including Europe.

"Several days ago, the refugee and the migrant crisis of the Syrian people arrived to the borders of our country and reminded us that the events of another place, another region and the events at our own borders are closely intertwined and inseparable in this global environment of today," he said, who emphasized that the current refugee crisis is multiplying each day and effective solution must be deployed immediately.

On European integration, Covic said that through the Stabilization and Association Agreement signed between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was hopeful that his country would gain candidacy status.

"I assure you of the very strong belief present in Bosnia and Herzegovina that our experiences and lessons learned in our past can help and must be offered as an increased contribution to solving numerous challenges on both regional and international level," he added. Endit