Under the title “Russian Aggression Against Ukraine: New Momentum for the EU Enlargement?”, the second in a series of BSC Leaders Meetings events took place in Skopje on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

What are contributing factors to the rise of drones in the Balkans and how might they change the military balance of power in the region? Find out in the BCSP analysis written by the BCSP Senior Researcher Vuk Vuksanović, and Filip Ejdus, a professor in security studies at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade and the Member of the Executive Board at the BCSP.

Within the prEUgovor coalition, BCBP continues to monitor reforms in key areas of European integration – parliamentary oversight of the security sector, the space for civil society, the fight against corruption in the police, personal data protection, police reform, the fight against organized crime, the fight against extremism and terrorism.

The citizens of Serbia are still shocked and appalled by the last week’s two mass shootings that took place in less than 48 hours, resulting in 17 dead and another 20 wounded.   

Since Orbán reassumed power in 2010, the Hungarian government has taken a more active role in the Western Balkans. In a short time period, it has increased its political and economic footprint. 

The relationship between Serbia and Hungary is very specific and is characterised by intensive cooperation, which is primarily the result of very good relations between Serbian President Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán. The two countries already cooperate in the field of energy. Namely, Serbia uses Hungarian gas storage capacities, while Hungary receives its gas via Serbia

On 24-25 February 2023, in cooperation with partner organisations, the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) organised a citizens’ assembly in Vrnjačka Banja. The topic of the assembly was how the police could better respond to the needs of citizens in the area of fighting serious and organised crime, while the immediate reason was the ongoing debate on the Draft Law on Internal Affairs.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) organized a panel discussion titled “Serbia and Ukraine: Challenges of War” that gathered experts from Ukraine and Serbia, aiming to discuss the relations between Serbia and Ukraine, pro-Russian narratives and position of Ukraine and the Western Balkans in the European security architecture after the end of the war. Helena Ivanov, an associate research fellow from the Henry Jackson Society, moderated the panel.

The relations between the two countries from the moment Ukraine gained its independence, in 1991, to date can be marked as formally friendly relations. The peak of friendship and solidarity came with NATO’s bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, which has remained one of the most traumatic episodes in Serbian contemporary history.