The third regional meeting in the Western Balkans dedicated to the topic of preparation for release and post-penal support to radicalised inmates and violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) took place on 21-22 December 2021 in Skopje, North Macedonia.

The participants were welcomed by Mr Zlatko Apostoloski, National Coordinator on preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism with regards to North Macedonia, who presented the National Plan on Reintegration, Resocialisation and Rehabilitation of the foreign terrorist returnees and their families, with focus on the imprisonment stage and reintegration activities. He also shared their practice and experience in ensuring coordination between all relevant state institutions and agencies, emphasizing the role of the multidisciplinary teams whose main tasks is to support the rehabilitation of this category of released inmates and facilitate their reintegration back into their local communities.

The participants from the region shared their practical approaches and examples from everyday work when it comes to preparation for release and immediate support after release. The main conclusions from the discussion emphasized the need to develop a framework for establishing effective mechanisms and operational procedures to ensure long-term assistance towards released prisoners’ full reintegration.

The regional session was facilitated by three international consultants and was attended by 20 representatives from prison and probation services, as well representatives from Ministries of Labour and Social Policies.

This activity marked the 12th and last regional thematic working group session organised under the regional action “Enhancing Penitentiary Capacities in Addressing Radicalisation in Prisons in the Western Balkans”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, and implemented by the Council of Europe.