International Conference: Current Security Challenges for the Western Balkan Region Addressed by Means of Joint Responsibility and Cooperation There is open debate among many different and group. I do not have ambition to present all ideological and interest groups about what is relevant developments but rather to focus on the proper religious practice. Some important most pressing issue. security risks were raised from such debate during previous two decades. There is an urgent need to address one the most There is no doubt that there are many risks from important problem. It is about the links between Political Islam for the Western Balkan countries. development in Balkan and war in Syria and We can make analysis trough different elds Iraq. How this network of groups and individuals trying to explore specic impact on security supporting war in Syria and Iraq was formed? eld, different states and their relation, societies or relations between different nations, ethnic or Who are the main recruiters? What is happening religious groups in this region. During previous in our communities? years I wrote about“explosive mix of nationalism and Islamism”. It was during the In autumn 1993 Sheikh Imad al-Misri published period of nal years of Rais Mustafa Cerić as a programmatic booklet called“Attitudes we leader of Islamic community in Bosnia and should change”. In this pamphlet, he advocated Hercegovina. radical changes in the interpretation of Islam in 28 He has tried to establish single Islamic authority Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sheikh Imad was one of the key Islamic missionaries in Bosnia and for all Muslims in EU and some kind of Islamic Herzegovina, where he worked for a decade in nation. Such attempt was rejected by many humanitarian, non-governmental organizations inuential Islamic thinkers in the Sarajevo and and in military units. He was deported to Egypt outside Bosnia. He was criticized in Bosnia at the beginning of October 2001, but he still secular public because of his support for has some sort of inuence through different Islamization of society but he gained support channels. There is now a new generation of from many western governments for his so Islamic preachers in Bosnia who were educated called moderate views. He left his position of after the war at Islamic universities in Saudi religious leader after election of new Rais and he Arabia, Jordan, Syria and other countries. This was just recently defeated in election for debate on what is proper religious practice is Bosniac – Muslim member of Presidency of still open. Bosnia and Hercegovina. He got only 4,5 percent's of votes or 34 000 votes after he was My intention is not to make historical research almost 19 years religious leader of nation with or presentation, but it is necessary to explain almost 2 million people. It seems that there is how it all started. New generation of Islamic important distinction between religious and preachers educated after the war are not talking political authority for majority of Muslims in about Political Islam as separated form. They Bosnia as voters. New leadership of Islamic are debating which interpretation of Islam is community in Bosnia with Rais Husein most authentic and proper. Their Islam is very Kavazović declared as their aim return to the politically oriented to state building and nation original religious mission. building. The main line of their division is between the so called“national” or“universal” There is internal dynamics within different approach to Islamic interpretation.“Nationalist” Islamic communities, organizations; movements are talking about rebuilding of their own nation