The “Handbook on rehabilitation, resocialisation, and reintegration of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their families in North Macedonia” published with the support of EU and Council of Europe was presented to relevant institutions during the Workshop on "Necessary steps and responsibilities of relevant institutions in rehabilitation, resocialisation and reintegration process for FTFs and their family members in North Macedonia”, held on 18 November 2025 in Skopje.
The handbook is aiming to harmonise the procedures and strengthen the inter-institutional co-operation. Representatives from public institutions the judiciary, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) raised their awareness and knowledge on the roles and responsibilities of each actor in the process of rehabilitation, resocialisation, and reintegration of extremist prisoners and steps in the pre and post release phase. In particular participants tackled during their discussion the efforts of reintegrating returnees from conflict zones in line with the relevant strategies, Standards Operating Procedures and legal framework in North Macedonia.
The participants underlined that the developed Handbook was a much-needed tool for harmonising the procedures. In this context inter-institutional co-operation and exchange of information are essential for an effective rehabilitation and reintegration of VEPs back into local their communities and in reintegrating the returnees from conflict zones in Syria and Iraq back to the society
The handbook follows the discussion on assessment of inter-institutional co-operation concerning pre-release and post-penal processes for violent extremist prisoners.
The EU and Council of Europe will continue to support public institutions in North Macedonia in strengthening the co-operation and exchange of information providing support to violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) during imprisonment and after release, and to the returnees from conflict zones in Syria and Iraq.
The workshop was organised by the regional action “Enhancing co-operation in the Western Balkans in managing violent extremism in prisons and preventing further radicalisation after release” under auspices of the third phase of the European Union and Council of Europe joint “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” programme.
