Poverty and security in the Balkans: national, regional and social dimensions

This article presents the economic, social and regional problems that poverty poses for six Balkan countries. Poverty is a multidimensional concept not easily defined. There is a direct relationship between security and poverty, as poor people are affected by different forms of violence. Inter-temporal and cross-country comparisons were not always possible due to the fact that there was paucity of data in most of the countries. In all cases, poverty seems to have been reduced, especially in comparison to the state of poverty in the 1990s. Education seems to be an important determinant; poverty has also a spatial dimension in all these countries.