VOA常速英语:IS Attracting Rising Numbers of Balkan Youth

Europe has been hard hit by Islamist attacks in France and Belgium, but there is also concern about the majority Muslim nations in the Western Balkans.
由于激进分子袭击法国和比利时，欧洲一直受到很大打击,但人们也对巴尔干半岛西部的大多数穆斯林国家感到担忧。

Adrian Shtuni, an expert on the phenomenon of radicalization in the Western Balkans, says the high number of fighters from that region going to Syria and Iraq is concerning.
阿德里安•斯特尼也意识到在巴尔干半岛西部这种激进化的现象,而且他表示该地区大量战士前往叙利亚及伊拉克令人担忧。

“There are a lot of individuals who travel or are radicalized by their own peers. So they are radicalized by their own friends, their siblings, by their brothers and so on and so forth,” Shtuni says.
有很多人是在旅行或被自己的同伴变得激进。因此他们自己的朋友,手足，兄弟,等等让他们变得激进。

Since 2011, approximately 1,000 fighters from the Western Balkans have joined Islamist militant groups.
自2011年以来,大约有1000名巴尔干半岛西部的战士已经加入伊斯兰激进组织。

Radicalization can also stem from not focusing on economic and social development, says USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, Thomas Melia. And for some communities, he mentions another factor as well.
美国国际开发署负责欧洲及欧亚大陆事务的助理官员表示激进化也可以来源于对经济社会发展的不关注。而且对一些社区而言,他也提到了另一个因素。

“Some international influences have pushed people in the wrong direction, radicalizing them and pushing them to more extreme views of Islam. We have seen that in several countries, in Albania and in Kosovo in particular, and in parts of Bosnia,” Melia says.
一些国际影响已将人们引导至错误方向,煽动他们,促使他们向往更为极端的伊斯兰教观点。我们已经看到,在一些国家,尤其是阿尔巴尼亚和科索沃,波斯尼亚部分地区都是如此。

Saudi money
The New York Times reported recently that Saudi money and influence in Kosovo have transformed a once-tolerant Muslim society into, in its words, "a font of Islamic extremism and a pipeline for jihadists" by spreading Wahhabism, a conservative Islamic strain dominant in Saudi Arabia.
最近《纽约时报》的一篇报道称,通过传播一种在沙特阿拉伯占主导地位的保守伊斯兰复古主义派别瓦哈比主义,沙特在科索沃的金钱及影响力已将曾经宽容的穆斯林社会改变成,引申其原话为,伊斯兰极端主义的代名词及圣战分子的传播途径。

Kosovo and other countries have undertaken initiatives to fight the tide of radical Islam, but Shtuni says that the region's fragile societies are still vulnerable.
科索沃和其他国家采取行动打击伊斯兰极端势力,但斯特尼表示这个地区腐朽不堪的社会依旧十分脆弱。

“Let’s face it. In the Western Balkans the conditions in general, socio-economic or political, are not ideal. So yes, they do create an environment that is conducive to radicalization,” Shtuni says.
让我们面对现实吧。在巴尔干半岛西部的一般状况下,社会经济或政治并不理想。是的,他们创造了一种有利于激进化的环境。

Seeking solutions
USAID's Melia says that efforts to change that environment should include better economic performance, more opportunities, and a sense that the government is not pursuing corrupt practices and is advancing society as a whole.
美国国际开发署的米利亚表示改变这种环境的努力应该包括更好的经济表现,更多的机会,而且从某种意义上说,政府不是追求腐败行为,而是作为一个整体推动社会。

“That’s consistent with our larger development agenda, and it’s also increasingly important at this moment,” Melia says.
这符合我们更大的发展议程,而且此时此刻正变得越发重要。

The issue has been complicated by Europe's migrant crisis. The Balkan route is one of the main paths to Western Europe, and the European Union, strained by the wave of people fleeing wars, now has fewer resources to deal with the Balkans' other problems.
这个问题一直因为欧洲的移民危机而无比复杂。巴尔干半岛路线是进入西欧的主要通路,而人们逃离战争让欧盟紧绷了神经,现在在解决巴尔干半岛其他问题上的资源越来越少。