The Small Arms and Light Weapons Problem in the Balkan Region
The Small Arms and Light Weapons Problem in the Balkan Region

Author(s): Angela Aiello
Subject(s): Politics, Regional Geography, Security and defense, Military policy, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Centar za Sigurnosne Studije
Keywords: Balkans; small arms; light weapons; region; issue;
Summary/Abstract: Large availability of small arms and light weapons in the Balkan region functions as a facilitator of criminal activities and violence, undermining efforts to move toward liberalization and democracy and, ultimately, representing a serious threat to human security and to the overall security of the state. Despite this, knowledge about the existence and the dynamics of an illegal market in firearms in Europe is scant and incomplete. While this is partly due to the covert nature of the phenomenon, lack of standardized firearms registration systems and databases, an event-driven tendency to develop legal and policy frameworks as well as pitfalls in the estimation system, all contributed to the lack of reliable information on the overall size of the illicit market in firearms in Europe, patterns and routes of illicit trafficking as well as on who and how is involved in this trade. A challenge, this, that needs to remain the focus of competent bodies at the EU and national level, since reliable and comprehensive knowledge on the issue remains crucial precondition for the development of efficient strategies to counter illicit trafficking and related forms of serious and organized crime.

• Details
• Contents