UKRAINE CRISIS AS A GLOBAL SECURITY CHALLENGE

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - Europe’s worst security crisis in decades - has prompted the EU to make unprecedented decisions on EU security, defence and enlargement. For the first time, decisions have been made to deliver deadly weapons to a third country and decisions to strengthen defence co-operation amid a new perception of the threat. The 2001 Temporary Protection Directive, which grants temporary residence to Ukrainian refugees, was activated for the first time. The overwhelming support for the UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion clearly proves that countries around the world see the invasion as an attack on global norms. However, policy makers in certain countries are managing the crisis in terms of their national interest. This paper will analyse the differences in regional and national attitudes regarding the events in Ukraine, ie geopolitical, economic and security factors that influence decision-making to deal with the Ukrainian crisis

NATIONAL COUNTER TERRORISM POLICY AS A CRISIS MENAGMENT TOOL

The current study examines the effects of one of the modern crises nowadays, and that is the terrorism. Today’s terrorist threats have changed, and terrorist groups are now more geographically dispersed and their tactics more diversified. To address this evolving terrorist threat across the globe and within the homeland, our approach to counterterrorism must evolve. The preparation for a terrorist attack, a rampage, hostage taking or other violent attacks is an essential part of crisis management these days. Rapid, careful intervention is often vital in situation of terrorism and other external threats. Time is a very decisive factor in exceptional and critical situations. Accordingly, an essential prerequisite to ensuring that our formidable resources are focused where they can have the most effect is a sober and empirical understanding of the threat coupled with a clear, comprehensive, and coherent strategy. Without such a strategy, we risk embracing policies and pushing solutions that may not only be dated, but may have become irrelevant. We also lose sight of current and projected trends and patterns and thereby risk preparing to counter and respond to possibly illusory threats and challenges

Homegrown terrorism – new challenge for the security sector of the Republic of Macedonia

When speaking about terrorism, as a threat to the global security, with no exception, the main culprits are detected in the radical Islamists headed by Al Qaeda. If by 11 September this terrorist organization was located in the heart of Afghanistan, after the attacks by the allies its cells have dispersed all over the world. In the past decade, even though this global insurgency has endured severe strikes in the core part, still their power did not decrease – on the contrary, with the support by the globalization and technological revolution, they successfully implemented many terrorist attacks throughout Europe, Russia, Africa, as well as the Middle East. Most of these attacks were carried out by small decentralized terrorist cells or individuals – supporters of the global jihad insurgency. With regards to the Balkans, the presence of Al Qaeda and the jihad insurgents have been most often linked to Bosnia. Even though some analysts claim that in Macedonia, also, there are Islamic radicals, still, the general assessment was that Macedonia is not target to this global insurgency. However, the murder of five people in April 2012 was assessed from both the expert and scientific public, to be a terrorist act motivated by the radical Islamist ideology, whilst others refused to give the act a religious note, considering it to be a criminal act. The main thesis of this paper is that in the Republic of Macedonia there is a new kind of terrorist threat that is not imported from outside, but is created internally, and is home grown. The question is whether the security sector in the Republic of Macedonia should make a new security assessment, which as a new threat will identify the homegrown hidden terrorist, or the new generation of terrorists – individuals, inspired by the global jihad ideology

The concept of hybrid threats

In 2016, during the Warsaw summit, NATO and EU reached an agreement to improve the cooperation in the fight against the hybrid threats, describing the security situation in Europe as space where many hybrid activities take place. The security environment of the modern democratic societies is endangered due to the intensive hybrid activities that are manifested via campaigns aimed to misinform, hostile cyber-activities and radicalisation of vulnerable groups in the society. The security environment during the Cold War was defined with the two confronting super powers, with each trying to surpass the other building an international security system of bipolar relations. Today, in state of hybrid threats, when the security environment is not more secure than during the Cold War, the security setting is much harder to define. The threats, methods of action and activities are multidimensional and the relations among various actions remain unclear. The state actor constantly try to become stronger, while the non-state actors seek own statehood or recognition of their activities. Seeking to achieve their own ambitions, the non-state actors challenge the West and its institutions, representing thus hybrid threats for their security. Dealing with the hybrid threats includes synchronised use of military and non-military means against specific weaknesses of the enemy. Unless detected and dealt within timely manner, the state of dealing with hybrid threats will reach the state of hybrid warfare. We live in a time of hybrid influences, where state and non-state actors challenge the modern western democracies and their institution that are considered to be a threat or competition in meeting their goals and interests. The aim of the hybrid threats is to create – by detecting the adversary’s weaknesses, such as ideological differences, technological deficiency, society polarisation, geostrategic factors and infrastructure – conditions to achieve their own goals. If the desired goals are not achieved with the hybrid methods, the hybrid threats can create conditions for future conflict, when the situation can escalate in hybrid war with significant increase of the armed violence. The modern democratic states should have coordinated coherent approach to understand, detect and respond to hybrid threats as collective interest

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