SECURITY SERVICES

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) strongly urges the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia to immediately cease the excessive and unlawful use of force against peaceful demonstrators. Security forces must treat all citizens equally, act in accordance with the law and strictly follow service regulations during any intervention.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) expresses deep concern over serious irregularities, abuses, and selective actions by members of the Ministry of Interior during the local elections held on June 8, 2025, in Zaječar and Kosjerić. We call for an immediate, independent investigation into all reported incidents. These events are part of a broader security context in which the police are increasingly failing to fulfill their primary role—protecting citizens and upholding the rule of law.

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.

This analysis by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) concludes that during the 52 days it spent in a state of emergency, Serbia failed the test of democracy, thanks to a series of failings and irregularities in the conduct and control of the security sector.

Depoliticizing security services in Western Balkans is impossible without the joint insistence of citizens, media and civil society organizations, it was concluded at the discussion organized by Institute Alternative on 6 December 2019 in Podgorica, attended by BCSP Executive Director Predrag Petrovic. Petrovic warned that in Serbia the centralization of power is being strengthened by the security services controlling institutions and different elements of society, helping to further capture ...

BCSP Executive Director Predrag Petrovic, through specific examples, analysed how BIA’s powers were misused to pressure and combat critical voices.

The objective of the project that BCSP realizes with partners is to contribute to reversing the trends of state capture through advocating for the substantial reforms that would promote integrity and accountability of the intelligence sector.

The European Union should respond to the signals of abuse of the security-intelligence services highlighted by civil society in Serbia and Montenegro before a big-scale affair arises like in North Macedonia in 2015, it was concluded at the event organized by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) on 4 June 2019 in Belgrade. The European Commission has recognized that the countries of the Western Balkans increasingly face state ...

In Serbia, there is a gap between law and practice, uncontrolled government seeks to diminish citizens' rights, and public attention is being drawn to unimportant issues. The way to slow down the state capture process is to strengthen institutions and networking, it was highlighted at the event organized by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) on June 29, 2018 in Belgrade. Captured state as a term is increasingly ...