IDEA OF SECURITY COMMUNITY AND THE BALKANS

STOJANOVIĆ Stanislav (PhD, Associate Professor, Institute for Strategic Research, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia), stanislav.stojanovic@mod.gov.rs
ŠARANOVIĆ Jovanka (PhD, Research Associate, Institute for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia), jovanka.saranovic@mod.gov.rs

The idea of a security community that is based on trust, closeness in values and interests and common perception of security and processes that threaten it, represents a model that can create a social context for permanent stabilization and strengthening the security culture in the Balkans. The initiators and the main agents in ending violence and promoting post-conflict stabilization of the Balkan region through the process of socialization and affirming models of the security community are undoubtedly EU and NATO. After stopping armed violence, primarily through the idea of membership and the enhancement of regional ties and cooperation, both organizations have sought to encourage the process of reconciliation of conflicting nations and to promote confidence as important prerequisites in building a security community in the Balkan area. Such efforts have given undeniable results in the elimination of the most dominant factors threatening regional security. However, without denying contributions, the idea of a security community is faced with many challenges. Although the experience of unity in the former common state should be a factor that would encourage the concepts of regional unity, the legacy of the recent past still largely limits the full range of the security community. Confidence and a sense of regional unity, as important aspects of common security perception, are very controversial and of variable intensity.

Keywords: security, security community, the Balkans, EU, NATO, post-conflict society, integration