The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) calls on the Ministry of Defense to disclose information on the status of 60 members of the 1st Land Army Brigade who have been infected with the Covid 19, and to explain how it happened. We also call on the Ministry to inform the public of the total number of infected members of the Army, as well as of the measures taken to prevent a major spread of coronavirus in the Serbian Army.

We draw the attention of the domestic and international public to the unacceptable recent moves by the state authorities in Serbia during the state of emergency introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which undermine democracy, rule of law, basic human rights and especially freedom of media.

State of emergency introduced because of epidemic is not a legal ground for total curfew and it would raise a number of issues. Total curfew is profoundly unconstitutional and not in line with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, stated BCSP Director Igor Bandovic during the live appearance on TV N1. Reminiscing on the present situation in Hungary, BCSP Director pointed out that the state of emergency must not be abused with a goal to introduce an authoritarian system of government, in which the discretionary powers of those who rule would be without accountability. This report is republished from N1 website and originally is available here.

Serbian defence sector is facing major personnel drain, with the main reasons being workload, non-work related tasks, salaries and inability to get promotion. This was highlighted at an event organised by Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) on 5 March 2020 in Belgrade.

BCSP Researchers Katarina Djokic and Marija Ignjatijevic analysed the reasons for employees leaving the Serbian defence system and gave recommendations that could overturn this negative trend.

The revision of the Action Plan for Chapter 24, with a particular focus on the fight against organized crime and the fight against drugs, was the topic of a meeting between the Working Group of the National Convention on the EU for Chapter 24 and the  Negotiating Group on Justice, Freedom and Security. The meeting was held on February 18, 2020 in Belgrade.

For the eighth consecutive year, BCSP was recognized among the best think tanks in the world on the research topics of defence and national security, and foreign policy and international relations.

Monitoring the state of democracy and freedom of expression and the media in Serbia will be in the focus of a new Cross-Sectoral Working Group of the National Convention on the European Union (NCEU) for political criteria, which was established on January 24, 2020 in Belgrade.

Dear friends and partners, BCSP wishes you a safe and sound New Year! In 2020, we will continue to defend security as a public good through opening space for dialogue based on research on key topics in Serbia, the region and Europe. Take a look at the biggest BCSP successes of the year behind us. BCSP Achievements The , which BCSP initiated and co-publishes, has been ranked in the ...