Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies has completed the analysis of the Draft Action Plan of the Partnership for Open Government Initiative, for the period of 2016-2017, as part of the project activities "Open Government Advocacy: Setting up the agenda and following country action plans by CSOs".
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The Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies presents the Guide through information security in the Republic of Serbia, published within the project Serbia moving forward: Mapping the legal and policy cybersecurity framework, supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The aim of the Guide is to indicate the obligations stemming from Serbia's membership and participation in international bodies and organizations, as well as the opportunities this membership provides for policy and capacity development in this field. The Guide covers the current normative framework, strategies, principles and recommendations of actors such as the European Union, NATO, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and United Nations.The Guide also provides basic guidelines for further steps in the process of comprehensive regulation of the field of cybersecurity in Serbia, such as developing a Cybersecurity Strategy, as well as pending bylaws regulating the fields covered by the Law in more detail. The Guide is therefore intended for decision-makers, that is, representatives of relevant state institutions, supporting the efforts directed towards regulation of the field of cybersecurity in Serbia, as well as representatives of the private sector, academic community and civil society interested in this topic.
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The goal of this study is to present to the Serbian public the various levels of international relations, in which Moscow is undoubtedly an indispensable player in solving the most pressing global and regional problems and challenges, and on this basis, to encourage debate on whether Russia is a necessary or advantageous partner. Our intention is to analyze the objectives, methods, and effects of Russian soft power in the Western Balkans and Serbia, and based on these findings, to assess whether they are in accordance with what CEAS considers to be in the public interest of the State of Serbia, that being: stabilization, democratization, economic prosperity, and Euro-Atlantic integration.
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Study Keeping up with the private security sector – II, is a part of the continuation of the project “Regulated private security sector – Safer life of citizens” implemented by the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies from Belgrade (CEAS) with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade.The goal of this project, which was implemented in cooperation with the Private Security Association with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, is to exert public pressure on the government representatives to include the situation in this important and large economic and security area, as well as its legal regulation, among their priorities, by using all available methods of public advocacy, namely: publication of research; organizing public debates; discussions with representatives of the proposers of laws and regulations; interviews with the deputies; consultations with experts; consultations with the representatives of professional associations; consultations with civil society and through media appearances.Study “Keeping up with the private security sector – II” contains two analyses: Training and licensing in Private Security and Incompatible Activities of Members of the Ministry of the Interior with activities of private security. The first is primarily focused on the process and legal solutions that regulate training and licensing in private security, as well as all formerly adopted secondary legislation acts, and provides an overview of conclusions and recommendations. The second analysis addresses the issue of incompatible activities of police officers against the activity of private security. It analyzes the normative framework in which this issue is regulated, and provides an overview of conclusions and recommendations.
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CEAS believes that the Law on Protection of Whistleblowers should not be primarily anti-corruption by a law that primarily ensures respect of those human rights and civil rights, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia that are related to freedom and security, right to an opinion and expression, right to privacy, protection of personal data and labor.Within the project“Promoting Comprehensive Security Sector Reform” which was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy from Washington, USA, CEAS has developed analysis
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The goal of the project “Promoting Comprehensive Security Sector Reform“, which was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, is to address in more details the issues that were initiated in the proposal in 14 points presented in July 2012 by the Protector of Citizens Saša Janković and The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Šabić for improvement of actual condition in the area of data protection, which is still to a large extent at odds with the Constitutional guarantees – and which has not been fully adopted up to this date .Within the continuation of the Project, after the proposal of practical policy related to protection of whistleblowers, the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies in this document presents an analysis of the current condition in the area of protection of classified information, with specific recommendations for improvement thereof.
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Accordingly, a project of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies from Belgrade (CEAS) entitled Adoption of Law on Security Vetting - Towards Greater Consistency with the Constitution, supported by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Serbia, aims at opening a wide public debate on security vetting, regulation of this area in other countries, legislative regulation and relevant practice in Serbia, as well as giving specific recommendations for improving the current situation.
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The initial provision of the North-Atlantic Agreement defines the principles, conditions and standards that countries aspiring for membership need to achieve in order to become a NATO member...So far, NATO countries have not gone to war against each other. Historical experience offers us strong evidence that NATO membership, and its expansion, leads to historic reconciliation (France, Germany) stability and democratization of states (Spain, Greece, Portugal..)...Many relevant comparative research unquestionably shows that, in the long-term, the countries with such an inner-political establishment are by rule of thumb the most stable, not only socially, but also economically, because independent institutions, division of powers and rule of law and protection of human rights...Through full-fledged NATO membership, a country becomes an integral part of the decision-making mechanism in NATO... The first and most basic direct benefit of membership is enjoyment of the rights, as well as obligations, arising from Article 5 of the North-Atlantic Agreement which states that an attacked Member State will be defended by the entire Alliance...According to Article 4 provisions of the North Atlantic Agreement, each state has a right to call for consultations whenever it considers necessary and when, according to its assessment, her territorial integrity, political independence or security of that NATO Member State is threatened.NATO Member States have transparent defense budgets. They try to strategically plan these expenditure together, thus forming mechanisms of joint participation in procurement of equipment and other joint use of resources...In the North-Atlantic world, NATO has no alternative, as it is often argued in Serbia. There is no other military-political alliance with a clearly defined method of decision-making and a developed joint command structure. Although it is hard to detect the exact proportion that only NATO membership brings in economic terms, all new Member States agree that they have experienced a so-called “NATO effect” after joining – starting with an increase in GDP...Therefore – join NATO!
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CEAS present you an analysis“The Missing Link: Security Sector Reform, ‘Military Neutrality’ and EU integration in Serbia", which analyzes the current situation in Serbia’s security sector; the mechanisms the European Union has in order to enable Serbia to implement sustainable reforms in the security sector, with specific focus on Chapter 31 and the political criteria; a map of needs and key focus-points for reform, along with specific conclusions and recommendations for all relevant actors.The Policy Study was prepared based on comprehensive research, consultations and interviews with relevant stakeholders conducted in Belgrade and Brussels including representatives of relevant ministries and parliamentary committees in Serbia, representatives of the NATO Liaison Office in Belgrade, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the European Commission DG Enlargement, the EEAS and NATO HQ.The study is a result of a joint project of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies in Belgrade (CEAS) and the Democratization Policy Council headquartered in Berlin (DPC) titled “Security sector reform, ‘military neutrality’ and EU integration in Serbia: How the EU can best use its influence to advocate for sustainable reform”. Its realization is supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States of America.
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CEAS intern Savely Zakharenko, a 2nd year college student from Duke University in the United States, has written about the Islamic State (ISIS), a newly formed and powerful insurgency currently sweeping through wide expanses of territory throughout Iraq and Syria. Though still a new, unpredictable power, the extremist Sunni insurgency, now a declared Caliphate, has significantly worried the West, especially the United States, who had just recently finished their military withdrawal from Iraq, and leaders throughout the Middle East.
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The analysis of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS), on the occasion of the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Security-Intelligence Agency (BIA), adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on June 29th of 2014.,and published in the Official Gazette RS ", no. 66/2014 of 06/29/2014.
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In a major victory for electronic privacy rights, the Supreme Court of the United States decided on June 25th, 2014 that a warrant is needed before police can search an arrested individual’s cellphone or other personal electronic device.In a unanimous decision supported by both the more liberal and conservative justices, the Court rejected arguments that searches of cellphones was similar to searches for other contraband during an arrest. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the sweeping opinion that because of the technological nature of modern cell phones, which with their massive capacities are able to contain millions of pages of texts, thousands of pictures, hundreds of videos, many private documents, a person’s historic location information, medical information, and a plethora of other information – all of which can date back to the purchase of the phone or even earlier – searches of cell phones pose a much more intense privacy risk than the simple search of someone’s person. Before the digital age, the opinion continued, police officers searching an arrestee and his/her belongings might have stumbled on only a few very personal items, as “people did not typically carry a cache of sensitive personal information with them as they went about their day,” while today “more than 90% of American adults who own a cell phone keep on their person a digital record of nearly every aspect of their lives – from the mundane to the intimate.” Thus, the privacy concerns of searching a cell phone are much greater than the search of a person, wallet, purse, and arguably, according to Justice Roberts, a home: “[a phone] contains a broad array of private information never found in a home in any form.”The need for a warrant was identified as possibly hurting law enforcement’s capability to fight crime, but the Court agreed that privacy concerns were more important. Regardless, windows for searching phones and other personal electronic devices without a warrant were left in cases such as those of ticking-time bombs or kidnappings where the child’s location could be on the phone.
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The Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies from Belgrade (CEAS) published today its new report "Keeping up with the private security sector", as a final part of the project "Regulated private security sector - safer life of citizens", supported by the ROyal Norwegian Embassy in Serbia.One of the purposes of the project was to influence representatives of the authorities to thoroughly review the existing state in this field and its place legal regulation of it among their priorities, through a campaign of public advocacy.
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On November 1, 2013, the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies published a new report "YOUR FACE SOUNDS FAMILIAR - On the occasion of the use of public resources in the "cleansing" of northern Kosovo campaign materials for the upcoming local elections in Kosovo and other security challenges and threats in relation to the upcoming local elections in Kosovo.
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The Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) is part of a coalition of NGOs that have launched a two-year project to encourage governments in the Western Balkans to become more transparent, titled “Advocacy for Open Government: Civil society agenda-setting and monitoring of country action plans” targeting governments in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The project is being funded by the European Union.Through a common methodology addressing a common framework for Open Government a mapping of government policy and capacity has been carried addressing the five areas around which OGP commitments are structured. Alongside the mapping study, a public opinion poll on trust in Government has been conducted in order to provide a full picture of the current situation in Serbia regarding the relation between the citizens and the Government, enabling us to tailor future policy briefs and advocacy plans based on these findings.Partners on the project include the Policy Association for an Open Society (Czech Republic) as project leader; Institute for Democracy and Mediation (Albania), Analitika Center for Social Research (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Riinvest Institute for Development Research (Kosovo), Center for Research and Policy Making, (Macedonia), Center for Democracy and Human Rights (Montenegro), and The Monitoring Center CEMI (Montenegro).
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Analysis of results of a poll conducted among National Assembly deputies, state officials and civil society activists about the state of affairs in the security sector in Serbia and further reform steps that need to be taken and CEAS recommendations for continued reform of the security sector in Serbia, formulated on the basis of the poll and other research-analytical activities in this area.
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Projekat Centra za evroatlantske studije iz Beograda (CEAS) „Usvajanje Zakona o bezbednosnim proverama - U susret većoj usklađenosti sa Ustavom“, koji je podržala Misija Organizacije za evropsku bezbednost i saradnju (OEBS) u Srbiji, ima za cilj otvaranje šire javne rasprave o oblasti bezbednosnih provera, uređenju ove oblasti u drugim zemljama, normativnom uređenju i stanju u praksi iste u Srbiji, kao i davanje konkretnih preporuka za unapređenje trenutnog stanja.
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Zakon o tajnosti podataka usvojen je 2009. godine, stupio na snagu 1. januara 2010. a zakonski rok od 2 godine, u kom su nadležni organi bili obavezni da donesu podzakonske akte kako bi sam Zakon bio primenjiv – probijen je – isti su usvojeni daleko nakon isteka propisanog roka.Zakon je, u naš pravni sistem, trebalo da unese jedan novi, sistemski pristup utemelјen na bezbednosnim, pravnim i tehničkim standardima koji se primenjuju u Evropskoj uniji, NATO, ali i zemlјama u okruženju koje su ga implementirale u svoje pravne sisteme. Kašnjenje usvajanja podzakonskih akata, zanemarivanje potrebe za većim usaglašavanjem ostale normative – na primer, Krivičnog zakonika – sa Zakonom o tajnosti podataka kao i izostanak upoznavanja relevantnih predstavnika države sa zakonskom materijom, kako tajnih podataka, tako i ostalih relevantnih zakona rezultiralo je i time da se kroz razne afere javni prostor kontaminira netačnostima usled nepoznavanja elementarnih propisa koji se direktno tiču obe pomenute strane. Sve ovo (neznanje) doprinosi stvaranju pogrešne percepcije cele situacije u javnosti i narušavanju ugleda nezavisnih institucija i drugih aktera koji legitimno zahtevju od relevantnih institucija da postupe u skladu sa postojećim zakonima Srbije.Centar za evroatlantske studije izradio je ovu analizu u okviru projekta Promocija sveobuhvatne reforme sistema bezbednosti“, koji je podržala Nacionalna zadužbina za demokratiju.Ona predstavlja analizu trenutnog stanja u oblasti zaštite tajnih podataka, uz konkretne preporuke za njegovo unapređenje.
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Imajući u vidu proces evropskih integracija Srbije, posebno aktivnosti predviđene Akcionim planom za Poglavlje 24, koji predviđa reforme ključnih elemenata Ministarstva unutrašnjih poslova, u smislu racionalizacije sistema i profesionalizacije kadra; prioritete internih reformi samog središta MUPa; kao i mogućnosti za rasterećenje MUPa koje pruža regulisani privatni sektor bezbednosti i uspostavljeni okvir javno-privatnog partnerstva u sistemu bezbednosti Srbije; ovaj dokument sadrži nekoliko elemenata. Prvo, analizira postojeći problem sukoba interesa koji nastaje obavljanjem dopunskih delatnosti od strane MUPa a koje sada legitimno može da preuzme regulisan privatni sektor bezbednosti. Drugo, analizira postojeće probleme nespojivih delatnosti policijskih službenika i drugih aktivnih službenika javne bezbednosti. Treće, na osnovu analize trenutne situacije, postojećeg normativnog okvira, kao i strateških ciljeva Srbije, ovaj dokument izvodi zaključke i daje konkretne preporuke za prevazilaženje ovakvog stanja; za bolju normativnu uređenost ove oblasti; za dostizanje postavljenih strateških ciljeva; kao i za efikasno unapređenje javno-privatne saradnje u oblasti bezbednosti.
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