The Balkans: Old, New Instabilities: A European Region Looking for Its Place in the World by Giorgio Fruscione

Author:Giorgio Fruscione [Fruscione, Giorgio]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Geopolitics, Political Science
ISBN: 9788855262484
Google: rYHrDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Ledizioni
Published: 2020-06-15T06:33:10+00:00

Albania

52%

62%

52%

Bosnia and Herzegovina

31%

21%

33%

Kosovo

62%

48%

50%

Montenegro

47%

53%

55%

North Macedonia

53%

57%

42%

Serbia

32%

38%

31%

Strained relations between Russia and the West, especially after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, have more ostensibly divided the region. The countries which have clearly opted for NATO membership unambiguously define the “emergence of increasingly aggressive countries adopting an unfriendly attitude to the West”27 as a threat to national security. On the other hand, Serbian official policy, decision makers and public opinion alike see Russia and China as partner countries. In fact, from the perspective of Serbian public opinion, the largest threat to national and European security is posed by the US and NATO.28 This image is reversed in Kosovo, where over 80% of population perceive Russia as a hostile country.29

What we have in common:

Institutional flaws, corruption and elements

of state capture

In most countries’ policy framework, corruption as such is not recognised as a security threat, risk or challenge. An interesting exception is Albanian national security strategy, which links organised crime to institutional deficiencies, corruption and politicisation,30 resonating with the advocacy efforts that Western Balkan civil society has undertaken within the framework of the Berlin process.31 A particular challenge is the process recently termed “state capture”, which entails “links with organised crime and corruption at all levels of government and administration, as well as strong entanglement of public and private interests”.32 An example of state capture in the security sector can be found in Serbian legislative amendments designed to decrease the transparency of security governance, enhance the discretionary powers of political officials and limit internal control and external oversight.33 Furthermore, the security sector and especially security services are likely to be misused as a tool of state capture, as was shown by the mass surveillance revealed in North Macedonia in 2015.34

Corruption and the undermining of institutional powers prevent institutions from addressing security threats such as organised crime and providing even basic services to citizens, worsening social insecurity and contributing to mass emigration – one of the issues some countries in the region recognise as a challenge to national security. Another consequence of corruption is environmental degradation: for example, the Bosnian Ministry of Security links ecological problems to systematic corruption.35

What could bring us together:

Organised crime, extremism and natural disasters

The threat of organised crime has been recognised by governments; it appears in all recent strategic documents and is among the priorities recognised at interstate (regional) level. It has long been known that the region’s geographic position makes it a route for trafficking in people, drugs, cigarettes and weapons. A recent analysis identifies the hotspots of organised crime as places of strategic location afflicted by weak government and economic vulnerability.36 This suggests that the challenges described in the previous section must be addressed in dealing with organised crime.

The proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) is a related threat. It is estimated that there are around 3.8 million unregistered firearms in the Western Balkans, mainly as a result of conflicts in the 1990s and instability (including the collapse of the Albanian government in 1997).37 SALW proliferation has

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.