The best of BCSP in 2013

In the beginning of 2013, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) found its place on the Global Go To Think Tanks list. and, beside three other organizations from the region, BCSP was included in the worldwide top 70 think tanks analyzing security affairs and international politics.

Independent monitoring of the EU negotiations

BCSP initiated the establishment of the first civil society organizations coalition for monitoring of Serbia’s progress in its negotiations with the EU – ,,prEUgovor” (in English prEUnup). Beside BCSP, coalition members are ASTRA, CPES, CINS, Group 484 and Transparency Serbia. We presented publicly our in the fields of rule of law and protection of fundamental rights (chapter 23 of EU negotiations), justice, freedom and security (chapter 24). During bilateral analytical framework (screening) meeting, we gave our evaluation of Serbia’s legal approximation with the EU law. Besides giving an evaluation, we also demanded . Furthermore, BCSP called for a mechanism that would allow civil society to participate in monitoring of Serbia’s EU progress. Our goal is to use EU accession process to point out to the necessary changes needed for genuine advancement of Serbia’s democratic path.

Fight against corruption

In the book “” BCSP research team mapped main corruption risks in military, police and security services’ institutions. What attracted a great load of attention this year was also BCSP research finding that . For this reason, BCSP expanded A-COP group and got number of CSOs from inner Serbia to join fight against corruption in the police as well as to develop anti-corruption knowledge and skills on our . In the beginning of the year, BCSP presented also results of Global Anti-Corruption Index which evaluated Serbia as a country with the . Besides pointing to the corruption risks, BCSP additionally initiated the research to determine best practices necessitated for build up of the integrity system within Serbia’s security sector. It also started development of partnership between CSOs, Assembly and independent state bodies for monitoring integrity of security sector. Important proposal from this initiative is pointing to the necessity of . BCSP was recognized for its monitoring work by the Public Procurement Office which appointed BCSP to name two staff members for the role of a for the procurements exceeding one billion dinars.

Gender equality in security sector

BCSP followed the realization of National Action Plan and thus continued its work on facilitating in Serbia and the Region the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security. Through , BCSP familiarized journalists with gender equality topic. For the first time,  on the role of women in security sector were awarded. With the support of the media and the fast reaction of Commissioner for Protection of Equality, against the female students applying on the Police Academy and the Military Academy. BCSP set in place trainings for the introduction of and also it shared its respective knowledge with the expert teams from the Ministry of Interior. Additionally, BCSP organized the first on implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325. Together with the partners from Tirana, Pristina, Sarajevo and Skoplje, BCSP published comparative analysis “”.

Serbian-Albanian relations and exchange of experiences

Starting from the assumption that the improvement of Serbian-Albanian relations reflects key factor for stabilizing Western Balkans, BCSP invested most of its effort in researching public perceptions on challenges and possibilities for establishing long-lasting peace between Serbian and Albanian people. Under the framework of , BCSP opened up the dialogue in Tirana, Pristina and Belgrade which provided opportunities for each of the three communities to discuss possibilities for , but also to reflect on the risks for development of worst case scenarios. Great loads of attention were attracted by on topics such as Brussels dialogue, future of Serbian-Albanian relations and human security, and conclusions of joint analysis ““. Beside that, BCSP talked in Belgrade and Tirana about possibilities for improving bilateral relations between . We analyzed best cooperation practices between police, military officials and diplomats that can transform the region effectively from the conflict zone into the security community. Our research findings were presented both in and and they will also be published by the Ashgate, academic book and journal publisher. Through cooperating with the partner organizations from the region, BCSP continued to analyze Western Balkans’ security challenges and to exchange best practices in . We learned together with our partners about police anti-corruption policies and via cooperation with the RACVIAC, we continued to share our expertise with the employees working in security sector institutions across Western Balkans.

European and International security

Trade mark of BCSP international activities is the co-organization of , conference designed in such a way to bring global topics to the Western Balkans and to reflect on regional issues within global perspective. This year again, BCSP was in charge of BSF’s academic event and preparation of the conference . Beside that, BCSP organized which gathered up in Belgrade 47 experts from all over Europe, Africa and America. Our contribution to the European security research was recognized and we received invitations to attend variety of globally important conferences as well as to become a part of international security networks. BCSP is the first organization from the Western Balkans that became a member of . The goal of this network is help transforming OSCE and finding of solutions for overcoming increasing gap between Euro-Atlantic security community (centered around EU and NATO) and Eurasian one (centered around Russia). During the year of 2013, BCSP had partnership with the , portal specialized on the European integration affairs. Furthermore, we intensified partnership with the and became part ofinternational .

BCSP is determined this coming year to continue in contributing to the citizens’ security and rights by opening up important topics in security sector reform, regional security cooperation and international security trends.

Our goal in the Year of 2014 is to become better through cooperation with you!