№144: The EU-Turkey Deal on Refugees: How to Move Forward

Author(s): Pinar Elman / Language(s): English

Since the EU-Turkey deal on refugees on 29 November, there has not been a significant reduction in the numbers of migrants crossing into the EU from Turkey. One of the main reasons is probably lack of trust between Turkey and European Commission in their readiness to keep promises. EU can break the impasse by offering Schengen visa liberalisation but at the same time should use the accession negotiations to exert greater pressure on Ankara.

№143: Ukraine: A Migration Corridor with Half-Closed Doors

Author(s): Piotr Kościński / Language(s): English

At a time when many European countries are strengthening border protection (including building walls), migrants will seek new avenues to Europe. In this context and of particular importance will be the policy of the authorities of Ukraine, which currently, and despite the still unstable situation in the country (war in the east and economic problems) could become the country of choice for migrants. Another problem for Kyiv may be internal migration. Both forms increase the risk of migration to EU countries such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, which are neighbours of Ukraine. In this situation, additional EU assistance to the authorities in Kyiv will be necessary.

CAS Newsletter 2009 / No 1-2

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Articles, pictures and interviews can be reprinted only with the consent of Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS - Sofia). Any citations should be duly acknowledged.

CAS Newsletter 2008 / No 2

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Articles, pictures and interviews can be reprinted only with the consent of Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS - Sofia). Any citations should be duly acknowledged.

CAS Newsletter 2008 / No 1

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Articles, pictures and interviews can be reprinted only with the consent of Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS - Sofia). Any citations should be duly acknowledged.

CAS Newsletter 2007 / No 1-2

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Articles, pictures and interviews can be reprinted only with the consent of Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS - Sofia). Any citations should be duly acknowledged.

CSD Policy Brief No. 66: Динамика на конвенционалната престъпност 2015 – 2016 г.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Crime rates in 2015 continue their downward trend with a decrease of 0.4% compared to 2014 levels. It must be noted, however, that the level of reporting crime to the authorities falls compared to officially registered numbers by the MoI in 2015. This means that latent crime is on the rise, which signifies a drop in public confidence in the MoI. One of the main reason for this discrepancy are the so-called police filters, which lead to diverging levels of officially recorded conventional crimes and crimes reported by the citizenry. These are some of the results of the National Crime Survey for 2015, presented in the current publication.

CSD Policy Brief No. 63: Extortion racketeering: the vulnerability assessment approach

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Extortion racketeering has long been pointed out as the defining activity of organised crime. It has also been identified as one of the most effective tools used by organised crime in the accumulation of financial resources and the penetration of the legal economy. Although in recent years this crime has not been among the top listed organised crime threats in the strategic EU policy documents, it still remains ever present in European countries. The seriousness of the phenomenon has been recognised at the EU level and the crime has been listed in a number of EU legal acts in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

Policy Brief: Cybercrime

Author(s): Maria Yordanova,Dimitar Markov,Todor Galev,Mike Hough,Gillan Hunter,Stefano Maffei / Language(s): English

This Policy Brief summarises key findings from the FIDUCIA cybercrime survey, conducted in selected member states, but it also provides an overview of existing data and research on the prevalence of cybercrimes and the public attitudes towards them. The role of current national and European legislation, policies and practical measures are assessed in terms of their deterrent or preventative effects and the potential role for cross-national cooperation and self-regulation to control or prohibit cybercrime are reviewed.

An International Handbook of Good Practices for Building Resilience against Violent Religious Radicalisation

Author(s): Rositsa Dzhekova,Lilia Yakova / Language(s): English

This handbook was created within the framework of the GREASE consortium which focuses on examining the relationship between radicalisation, secularism and the governance of religion. The main objective of the handbook is to outline good practices on resilience-building against violent religious radicalisation. It accomplishes this goal by combining practices from twelve in-depth case studies on violent religious radicalisation in countries in “the West” (Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, the UK), the MENA region (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia), South and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia) and countries with history of ethno-nationalist separatist struggles (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia). Based on shared practices, themes and commonalities across this range of country cases, the handbook outlines a common set of good practices. It illustrates these good practices though real examples from the country studies while it recognises that there is “no panacea to violent religiously-inspired radicalisation.” Although the handbook does not make claims that the good practices it identifies are the solution to violent religious radicalisation, such practices can provide valuable practical guidance and orientation to relevant stakeholders in designing resilience efforts. CSD contributed to the content of the handbook through results from the case study it conducted on good practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Migration to the EU. A Review of Narratives and Approaches

Author(s): Petra Saskia Bayerl,Karen Latricia Hough,David Pannocchia,Miriana Ilcheva,Dimitar Markov,Madalina Rogoz,Nesrine Ben Brahim,Rut Bermejo,Isabel Bazaga,Manuel Tamayo,Theoni Spathi,Giorgos Kampas,Dimitra Papadaki,Katerina Georgakopoulou,Lore Van Praag,Rut Van Caudenberg / Language(s): English

The aim of this brochure is to present current knowledge on migration narratives about the European Union (EU) and current approaches to migration since 2015 across the 15 countries in which PERCEPTIONS research is conducted. It maps the landscape of narratives on migration and Europe as a basis to understand migration flows and decisions as well as migration-related policies, perceived threats, and best practices to address migration challenges on local, national and international levels.

The Citizens on the Serbian-Albanian Relations and the Regional Security Cooperation

Author(s): Florian Qehaja,Arjan Dyrmishi / Language(s): English

Security Research Forum Belgrade-Prishtina-Tirana is a joint project of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, the Kosovar Center for Security Studies (KCSS) and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), three independent think-tanks from Belgrade, Prishtina and Tirana, specialised in security issues. The project aims to initiate research-based discussion on possible ways to improve the relations among Serbia, Kosovo and Albania. The debate should include think-tanks, academia, politicians and the media.

Constitutional provisions in the area of security a comparative table. Excerpts from 50 selected Constitutions

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) presents an overview of comparative constitutional norms on security with a view to promote debate on constitutional reforms in Serbia in this area. The overview has taken a form of comparative table consisting of selected constitutional provisions of 50 states and entities altogether, divided by regions. The first chapter is dedicated to Western Balkans states and entities which, due to shared recent historical and political experience, represent a first point of reference for comparison with Serbia (excerpts of Serbian constitution are also provided in the table). The second chapter covers most of the Eastern and Central European states, that underwent similar political transitions since the 1990s and are now members of the European Union. The third chapter covers 15 other EU member states and Switzerland, usually referred to as the Western Europe. Selected constitutional provisions of several, also transitioned, former Soviet Union states are offered in the fourth chapter. Finally, aiming at a broader perspective, a random selection of other countries all over the globe is presented in the fifth chapter.

GEOPOLITICS IS LOCAL: RAMIFICATIONS OF CHINESE PROJECTS FOR HUMAN SECURITY IN SERBIA

Author(s): Maja Bjeloš,Vuk Vuksanović / Language(s): English

The research was conducted in three Serbian cities with large PRC investments -Smederevo, Bor and Zrenjanin - to establish the impact of these projects on local communities and how they affect human security, understood in terms of human rights and human dignity. In that regard, several forms of human security endangerment were observed in the course of the research project:• Environmental hazards: Since the arrival of the PRC investments, cities of Bor and Smederevo have recorded a major surge in the emission of various harmful particles. Environmentalists have so far filed several criminal charges against Chinese companies for air pollution, including pollution of the river Mali Pek. The future will bring further environmental challenges for the inhabitants of Zrenjanin, as the Linglong tyre factory could endanger the nature reserve Carska Bara as well as the food production in Vojvodina.• Public health: Serbia is a country with the highest rate of pollution-related deaths in Europe. Cities of Bor and Smederevo have experienced a rise in the rates of cancer and various other respiratory and heart diseases connected with industrial pollution.• Socio-economic and human rights: A feature of Chinese projects is the influx of labor from Asia to Serbia. A whole range of exploitative practices against foreign and domestic workers has been recorded in all PRC projects, including human trafficking of Vietnamese workers for the purpose of labor exploitation. Despite public pressure, the Serbian authorities are ready to tolerate violations of labor and human rights in order to maintain foreign direct investments, employment and political rating.• Rule of law: PRC projects are often declared as those of ‘national interest’ and are characterised by the lack of transparency and public scrutiny. PRC investors enjoy privileged treatment by local authorities and administration that adjust the legal framework and make numerous concessions at the expense of citizens and local communities.• Cross-cultural issues: The fact that Chinese workers are not trying to integrate and interact more profoundly with the local communities remains a big problem. In the absence of interpersonal communication and intercultural exchange, inter-ethnic and sexual assault-related incidents have also been recorded in some cases.• Surveillance: Chinese cameras equipped with face recognition technology have not been utilised in these cities to date, but local population fears that cutting-edge technology could be used as the PRC presence grows

PANDEMIC MANAGEMENT: LESSONS LEARNED FOR A MORE SECURE FUTURE

Author(s): Srđan Hercigonja,Gorana Pebić / Language(s): English

Negative headlines, positive tone: how military exercises, peacekeepinig missions and IPAP are seen in Serbian media

Author(s): Pavle Nedić / Language(s): English

In Serbian media peacekeeping missions and military exercises are mainly referred to in the context of Kosovo. Multinational operations are overwhelmingly brought up in positive context. Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) is mostly touched upon in positive tone, but the reports are generally very polarized and the number of neutral texts is rather small. Overall, military exercises are the most frequently mentioned topic. However, in the reports on military exercises, Russia is never referred to in a negative tone. On the other hand, NATO is primarily mentioned in a neutral or a negative tone. This analysis focuses on media reporting regarding selected keywords, namely military exercises, peacekeeping missions, multinational operations and IPAP. These keywords were selected because they receive considerable attention in the media, but there is often a mix of true and false information in reports on them. The analysis covered 383 media pieces published between 1 December 2018 and 28 February 2019. Media sources included online portals, printed newspapers, TV and radio. The goal was to determine how often and in what context these subjects are mentioned in the media, which media sources report on them the most and whether they are brought up in positive, neutral or negative tone. We also measured how often key international actors, namely NATO, Russia and the EU are referred to. Furthermore, the tone towards NATO and Russia was analyzed in media pieces regarding military exercises and IPAP respectively.

COVIDOCRACY IN THE ELECTION PROCESS

AN ANALYSIS OF THE PANDEMIC NARRATIVE SERVING THE STATE CAPTURE

Author(s): Srđan Hercigonja / Language(s): English

Serbia and Hungary: Hammering Democracy

Author(s): Marko Drajić / Language(s): English

Hungary is currently Serbia’s closest international partner. Bilateral relations between the two countries are no longer marred by any disputes and their political and economic interests increasingly coincide. The values underpinning the administrations of both countries have converged to such an extent that a similar modus operandi is evident in their attitudes to issues such as democracy, the rule of law, institutions, foreign policy priorities, political opposition, the media, non-governmental organisations and the migrant crisis. According to the latest Freedom House report, these values and the political systems they have given rise to categorise these two countries as hybrid regimes – one step closer to authoritarian systems of government.

RUSSIA AND CHINA: FRIENDS AND BROTHERS OF THE CAPTURED STATE

ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVES USED TO CAPTURE THE STATE

Author(s): Vuk Vuksanović / Language(s): English

Válogatás a Civil Közoktatási Platform szakmai anyagaiból

Figyelemfelhívás a Pintér miniszter úr által hiányolt javaslatokra

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Hungarian

The Ministry of the Interior has invited school principals and teachers from some schools to "consult" on December 16, 2022, along aspects that have not yet been clarified. At the event, the speakers were able to share their thoughts and then listen to presentations by the education managers. From the presentation of Sándor Pintér, the minister responsible for education, it became clear that he has little information about the area and does not understand the data he presented. Moreover, he objected that the teachers only criticize, but have no suggestions. The CKP has been preparing such proposals since 2016 - several of its member organizations have been making such proposals for much longer. We always sent these proposals to the decision-makers and made them public. You can easily find out about them on our website. We drew the minister's attention to some of our professional materials in our letter before the above-mentioned meeting. Moreover, we also made proposals in specific, urgent matters. It seems that these have not reached him until now, so now we have collected the most important ones in a package for the Minister. The package will be delivered to you on December 21, 2022 at 3 p.m., accompanied by the letter below.