The Challenge of Organized Crime in the Balkans and the Political and Economic Implications

Organized crime in the Balkans has become ingrained, and this is now seriously undermining to varying degrees the normal functioning of the states in the region. Geopolitical and domestic conditions provided criminal groups an increasing range of favourable circumstances. In a region where the rule of law and good governance are scarce, the combination of state weakness and criminality poses a threat with grave political and economic implications. The further progress of democracy therefore goes hand-in-hand with the fight against organized crime, for no regional country can afford the social, political and economic costs that it entails.