Challenges of surveillance over the private security sector in the Balkan countries

• Main Authors: Milan Daničić, Dragomir Jovičić
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje 2017-12-01
• Series: Bezbednosni Dijalozi
• Subjects: private security sector; surveillance; balkans
• Online Access: http://periodica.fzf.ukim.edu.mk/sd/SD%2008.sp%20(2017)/SD%2008.sp.39%20Danicic,%20M.%20&%20Jovicic,%20D.%20-%20Challenges%20of%20surveillance%20over%20the%20private.pdf

The private security sector in the Balkans has been getting stronger from the beginning of the 1990s, growing into the main carrier and employer in the field of private security services. In the last period of time, activities of private security in these countries, with more or fewer difficulties, have been developing according to certain legal frameworks and accepted codex of behaviour and management, in order to eliminate praxis that is not conducted by positive regulations and general social normative. On the other hand, there are different problems in the Balkans concerning functions of the private security sector, which are often manifested in a very similar way, especially in the countries that did not get far in the process of European integrations. In the near future, it will be necessary to completely harmonize legal regulations of the Balkan countries with the standards of international law in this field, which was already done by members of the European Union from this region – Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Actual problems in the private security sector are usually related to informal connections of private security subjects to state security structures, criminal groups and political parties, insufficient financial support and inadequate education of executors, as well as imbalanced development of the private security market, especially in rural and less urbanised areas. The surveillance over the actions of the private security sector in all Balkan countries formally exists, but its effectiveness and efficiency are not on the required level. There is no doubt that these questions that are related to the surveillance and the control over the industry of private security are directly connected to the actual condition of reforms of the security sector in countries from this area.