A/HRC/37/49/Add.1 potential challenge that this policy would pose in terms of protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief of those who failed or refused to comply with such confessional regulation. 50. The Special Rapporteur notes that the Government’s concerns are shaped by everchanging domestic, regional and international trends, patterns and developments since the onset of reforms in 1990. These changes reflect new political, economic and cultural influences and dynamics, including the arrival of new faith adherents and groups that were not part of the country’s traditional religious landscape. While fully acknowledging the State’s responsibility for ensuring public safety, its interest in preserving the country’s unique religious landscape and the peaceful cohabitation of its diverse religious communities, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that reliance on religious communities to ensure the legitimacy of faith groups, including those outside their influence, can potentially lead to unlawful restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief. 51. Government officials told the Special Rapporteur that such reliance was, in fact, an example of the State’s unwillingness to interfere in the internal affairs of religious organizations, including the Muslim community, but to allow them to self-regulate. However, there are legitimate questions regarding whether that type of outsourcing effectively commissions one faith community to regulate the beliefs and activities of another, thereby establishing a monopoly or hegemony of traditional faith groups in the country that excludes, or at the very least, discriminates against minority groups or beliefs. That type of interdependency may ultimately lead to the erosion of the secular wall between religious groups and the State. Moreover, it may undermine the universality of the right to freedom of religion or belief, including the right to freedom from religion, as a human right that belongs to the individual, to be enjoyed alone or in community with others. 52. There is no indication, at this time, that the Government’s more stringent approach to new faith groups violates its international obligations to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief. The Special Rapporteur notes that his concerns should not discourage the Government from pursuing its work to engage with faith communities for the purposes of resolving issues of critical concern, including preserving public order and public safety. The challenge is to ensure that these legitimate interests are secured in a manner that is consistent with State obligations to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief. The Special Rapporteur is committed to working with the Government of Albania in the coming months in pursuit of this objective. C. Preventing violent extremism 53. The phenomenon of foreign fighters going to Syria and Iraq has given increased urgency to the international community’s concerns about the role of the western Balkans as a transit and logistics hub for European jihadists travelling to and from the Syrian conflict zone. Islamist radicalization in some western Balkan states is also of rising concern to governments in the countries of the region and beyond. That has created a rise in the number of programmes and partnerships for preventing violent extremism or countering violent extremism between the wider international community and Balkan governments, including Albania, which views cooperation and accommodation to be in its security and political interests given its accession talks with the European Union. 54. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur addressed some of the challenges posed by violent extremism in Albania with Government officials and other stakeholders. More specifically, he met with national counterterrorism and other security officials to discuss the phenomenon of Albanian foreign fighters going to Syria and Iraq. They discussed the trial of several imams and other members of the Muslim community in Albania who were charged, convicted and sentenced to prison for their role in recruiting foreign fighters to go to Syria and Iraq. The Special Rapporteur met with officials of the Ministry of Justice and several security officials who shared information with him regarding the charges that the eight individuals — two imams and six other people — were convicted of and sentenced. While there seems to be general acceptance that the recent trial and the ordeal surrounding it was a successful effort by the Government to deter such forms of extremism and address 12