HOPE Project First Transnational Thematic Workshop

On Friday 19 November, the HOPE Project (Holistic Radicalisation Prevention Initiative) held its first transnational thematic workshop, entitled “Preventing radicalisation and violent extremism in the Balkans – The role of criminal justice settings”.

The workshop, organised by the Bucharest-Jilava Penitentiary (Romania), in cooperation with Agenfor International (Italy) and IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Portugal), was attended by 70 experts from 12 European countries and focused on the following topics:

– The importance of prevention of radicalisation and extremism in broader counterterrorism strategies;
– The actors involved in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and their role;
– The relevance of building holistic P/CVE initiatives;
– The current most pressing challenges to P/CVE;
– The specific nature and difficulties of P/CVE in the Balkans region;
– Examples of existing ‘promising’ practices in terms of P/CVE.

This was the first of eight transnational thematic online workshops targeting the Balkan countries involved in the project consortium, namely Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

The HOPE project aims to develop a network for continuous training and knowledge sharing in the Balkan, Southern and Eastern European countries, while helping to improve the transition process for those at risk of radicalisation (or who have already become radicalised) moving from prison or probation to the community. The project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.