Boosting Armament to Fight Demographic Decline, Crime and Corruption – Public Opinion on Security
Boosting Armament to Fight Demographic Decline, Crime and Corruption – Public Opinion on Security

Author(s): Marija Ignjatijević, Bojan Elek, Marija Pavlović
Subject(s): Politics, Civil Society, Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Welfare systems, Demography and human biology, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: BCBP Beogradski centar za bezbednosnu politiku
Keywords: Serbian Security Policy; trust in institutions; security sector
Summary/Abstract: The main finding of this study is that the Serbian public have conflicting views on national and personal security and their relationship with the country’s institutions. On the one hand, people instinctively recognise that the main security threats are internal and are related to poor governance – such as organised crime and corruption and low levels of trust in institutions that serve the interests of politicians – which is why they rely on themselves and their own good conduct, from which they derive a sense of personal security. On the other hand, under the influence of media messaging and dominant narratives about threats to national security, presenting a maelstrom of great power rivalry and adversarial actors in the region, they continue to believe that hard power is the best response to security issues. Therefore, they see solutions mainly in the continued strengthening of the country and investment in the security sector.

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