The Balkans: Challenges, risks and threats

Abstract

There is no doubt that currently the security in Europe presents nowhere such a challenge as in the Balkans. Changes that have occurred in the region over recent years have led to a shift of the security focus away from terms and concepts that are exclusively of military nature. These trends are particularly evident in the countries of the Balkan region, which have reached different levels of the involvement in the European economic and security trends. The beginning of the twenty-first century is characterized by positive trends of pacification of war hotspots in the region, but the Balkans still faces many challenges, especially organized crime, corruption, threats to the territorial integrity of some countries, political unrest, as well as the threat to elementary right to live in peace. The tendency of the region is to maintain peace and prevent the outbreak of crises that could lead to war, and to ensure cooperation in the area of security, mutual respect and tolerance, as well as accelerated economic and social development. However, one can rightly ask whether there is an interest of 'the world's great players' for a potential crisis point. The Balkans has always been considered to be a 'highly flammable' region. The question is certainly justified, because causing crises and managing them is the basis of domination and achieving interests of great powers, or those who want to become ones.

Keywords

• the balkans
• kosovo and metohija
• challenges
• risks
• threats
• organized crime
• religious extremism