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At the time when the question of survival of the European Union is often raised, either due to the inborn anomalies or those which have appeared in its political system and inter-institutional relations, we will draw attention to an important policy which reflects the strengthening of the European Parliament. In this article, we deal with the role the European Parliament plays in a very important EU policy, the budget policy. After a brief review of the development of this policy and powers that the European Parliament has gained in the process of adoption, implementation and control of the budget, we will analyse its current position in this policy according to the current Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, known as the Treaty of Lisbon. In this article, we will argue that the European Parliament has significantly strengthened its institutional position and that, in the future, the Parliament will show all its strength and build its power through the budget policy. Also, in this article some other questions will be opened such as what is still missing for the European Parliament to complete its role in the budget policy.

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The subject of this paper is the presentation and analysis of the historical development of the German foreign cultural policy as well as its cultural organisation that carries out that policy towards Serbia. The author does it by analysing the characteristics of its cultural policy towards various states (and Serbia) and especially the places, roles and significance that some institutions as the main agents of the German culture play in achieving the goals of this policy in building, promotion and improvement of mutual cultural relations and cooperation between Serbia and Germany. The paper will also discuss the notion of foreign cultural policy and its general characteristics of the German foreign cultural policy, history and the main features and objectives of that policy towards Serbia.

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The beginning of the twentieth century was for the serbian people the entering into a period of difficult and uncertain struggle for liberation and unification. Wandering in the foreign policy, which had significantly weakened the international position of serbia after the Berlin Congress, turned its policy into a sensible and pragmatic one after the throne change in 1903. serbia started to build again close relations with Russia and france (Entente) and the other countries that would allow it to be neither economically (nor politically) exclusively related to hostile neighbors. The Balkan wars showed the serbian military power, but some of the major powers did everything to devalue its military successes and limit its strategic penetration towards the coast. The beginning of the Great War was marked by the attempts to bring serbia to its knees and to establish a connection between the Central Powers and Constantinople. The very cause for the war (the assassination in sarajevo) was aimed at justifying the aggression and as much as possible isolate serbia in the world. The beginning of the war and serbian victory intensified the diplomatic efforts both between ally countries and between the warring parties. serbia became an important subject of diplomatic activities and their participant.

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The subject of this article is to demonstrate the significance of Halford Mackinder’s geopolitical concept of East Europe for contemporary international relations testing it on the case of the Ukrainian crisis. The author claims that, if properly read and interpreted, classic geopolitical concepts can explain a great deal of contemporary international reality. Mackinder’s concept of East Europe as the first stop on the road to global hegemony has proved to be valid on multiple historical examples during the last two centuries and it is still reliable for explaining contemporary foreign policy of the Unites states. The Ukrainian crisis is the key event in Washington’s geopolitical expansion to the East, whose imminent goal is the reign over whole East Europe, while the long-term one is to eliminate Russia as an independent great power in Eurasian Heartland, after which the road towards the world hegemony would be open for the U.S.

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China’s economic progress has had the effect of changing its foreign policy. Deng Xiaoping’s “be patient” policy, whose goal was to create a peaceful external environment so that the state could devote its energy to its internal development, to convince neighbors and key partners of China’s benevolent intentions and avoid confrontation with other great powers, has been replaced by a more assertive foreign policy after the global economic and financial crisis. In an attempt to legitimize its power the fifth generation of Chinese leaders has relied on nationalism to distract public attention from the stagnating GDP growth. A tougher approach towards its neighbors, lesser inclination towards compromise and responding with more pressure to external pressures points to the increased deviation from the “smile diplomacy” that China has implemented over the last few decades. Despite the economic benefits and cooperation interests, a constant increase in the Chinese military budget and overall Chinese aspirations causes distrust and fear among its neighboring countries. This inevitably leads to security dilemmas and a new arms race, where everyone will strive to position itself accordingly and to maneuver to strengthen its position and maximize its long-term interests.

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Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the process of Eurasian integration began in new forms of cooperation between the newly independent states. over the years, a number of agreements on mutual cooperation have been signed focusing primarily on deepening and strengthening the economic ties of the Member states, particularly among the largest countries, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The authors analyse the types and main characteristics of the modern Eurasian integration processes and their institutional structure. The paper presents the integration processes based on the international trade association, among which two inter-state integration structures stand out – the Eurasian Economic Community and the Eurasian Economic Union. The authors are of the opinion that these integration processes are examples of dynamic regional linking and are based on the already known models of economic union of countries. on the basis of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Community signed in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 29th May 2014, the beginning of the Union activity was announced – 1st January 2015.

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The paper analyses whether and to what extent the prerequisites for successful implementation of the EU Common security and Defence Policy are being met in terms of logistical support for sustainable military missions in third countries, without relying on the NATO and/or the United states military infrastructure. The analysis make reference to the theoretical debates on the optimal model of the role of the EU as an international security actor as well as the vital importance of the intelligence for effective military presence in asymmetric conflicts in remote areas. The author examines the current capability of the EU for its own satellite imaging, reconnaissance, surveillance and collection of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), and with regard to the performance of the real-time satellite communication system. The author concludes that the completed and ongoing EU military missions give ample evidence to support the assumption that with no long-term investment in the development of an European network of satellites and related ground infrastructure as well as improvements in the supranational intelligence, it is not likely that the EU will be able to both act as a global supplier of cooperative security and protect vital security interests.

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Referendum is one of the most important instruments of direct (immediate) democracy, which is generally accepted in all consolidated democratic states. on the eve of the break-up of former Yugoslavia referendums were used very intensively for everyday political purposes or as a form (illusion) of legitimisation of specific political decisions. In the article, the authors analyse referendum as an instrument of direct democracy in the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro. on the basis of the experiences from the two referendum processes in both states the authors will attempt to show that in these states referendum was not an instrument but a negation of direct democracy. To support this, the authors will analyse the legal and political aspects of carrying out the referendums as well as the consequences in the two states that resulted from them. The lack of mechanism of direct democracy in both states, which has remained up to date, is only one in a number of indicators which show that democracy in those states is non-consolidated, fragile and false.

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Demand in energy is growing in the world and that is why the issue of energy security is becoming even more important for international relations. EU member states are not rich in energy resources, so their energy security depends on, first of all, safe, sustainable and continuous energy supply from abroad. It is connected with diversification of sources from which the EU supplies, security of transit and the integration of the EU energy market. In order to contribute to the European energy security, EU cooperation in this area seeks to expand to the neighboring countries, particularly to the countries of south-Eastern Europe. This fact as well as the commitment of Serbia to join the EU has a great impact on the position of our country in the system of the EU energy security. At the same time, one should have in mind that Serbia is particularly interested in the construction of the “south stream”, which will transport the Russian gas to Europe.

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Genocide is one of the most serious crimes, which has unfortunately continuously been committed from the ancient times until the present day to a greater or lesser extent. It is evident that in the last two centuries (XIX and XX century) the genocide was committed to a greater extend, although at that time there were made a number of international multilateral conventions signed and adopted by most modern countries, whose purpose was to prevent wars as well as rules that must be applied during the wars and armed conflicts. It is the fact that the League of Nations and the United Nations were unable to prevent the outbreak of many wars and armed conflicts, although war and armed conflicts were prohibited by the League of Nations and now by the United Nations Charter. After the horrors of the second World War, when there were committed unseen mass war crimes against civilians, prisoners of war, wounded, sick and shipwrecked, including crimes of physical extermination of certain group of people: Jews, Slavs and Gypsies the international community, and the United Nations especially, adopted in 1948 the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The obligation of the parties who signed the Convention was to enact in their legislations the crime of genocide. In this article the author has discussed and critically commented the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crime of Genocide. It underlines that this Convention has an international, political and legal significance; despite some defects it has justified its existence and the best proof for that is that this Convention has been signed, ratified or adopted by 145 countries, which means most modern countries in the world.

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Illegal migrations and terrorist actions with foreign elements (elements which come from abroad) is an enormous global problem of the contemporary world. It is a mass phenomenon by which almost all countries are affected in various ways and against which the international community fights hard but continuously. These two phenomena have in a special way become characteristic of the contemporary civilisation. In the scientific theory, in international law and in practice of the international community these two phenomena are considered and treated separately, although numerous researches point to the connection between them and their mutual connections. The basic aim of the research is to point out to the close connection between illegal migrations and terrorist actions worldwide and also to point out to the mistakes made so far in the international law treatment of illegal migrants (the way how international law treats illegal migrants) and their true role in provoking security problems and phenomena, especially their role in terrorist actions, which is not treated in an appropriate way. Countries in which these problems were created have usually been satisfied with the decisions to deport those who violate international public law to their countries or to the countries and territories they come from. It is characteristic that illegal migrations are exclusively by international public law, primarily from the point of view of protection of human rights and freedoms. on the other hand, terrorists and all that is connected with terrorism as a global security problem are treated by the international community exclusively by criminal law. In that way, very precious knowledge about how illegal migrants act in terrorist actions have been lost, but that could be very important in the prevention of the phenomenon. for that reason, it is necessary to examine thoroughly every segment, cause and effect of their participation in terrorist actions.

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The paper analyses the regulations of the most significant environmental legislation related to the cultural heritage. There have been especially emphasized international agreements in the environmental field in which Republic of serbia has a membership status and which are of importance for the protection of cultural heritage. The second part of the paper is based on the overview of the national legislation in the field of the environment that has provisions on the cultural heritage protection. In that light, it is possible to, in a relatively clear manner, identify parts of the regulations in the field of the environment that in various ways correspond to the certain aspects of the cultural heritage protection. The broader sense of the relevance of the regulations in the environmental field that is indirectly important for the protection of the cultural heritage is also pointed out. In the separate part of the paper, there has been given an overview of the most significant regulations in the field of cultural heritage. The analysis of the state of the national legislation is put in the context of the harmonization with the appropriate EU regulations in the environmental field and cultural heritage. The basic thesis which is proved in the paper is that the cultural heritage protection is a part of the regulation system of the environmental field in a broader sense, but that building stronger ties between instruments of the cultural heritage protection and environmental protection demands further improvements of the system of norms in the environmental and cultural heritage fields.

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The changes at the global level that occurred after the end of the Cold War resulted in the changes in many areas of society. one of them is civil protection and changes of its role. In the past, this area was more designed as part of defense in the armed conflict in which nuclear weapons would be used. At the beginning of the XXI century civil protection has been in the service of protection of the civilian population from the risks and disasters of different causes and character. The European Union, in order to strengthen civil protection, is trying to connect its members as much is possible into a single system. That is why the European Union is investing a lot of efforts to create a civil protection system that will be effective enough to prevent outbreaks or reduce the effects of a possible disaster in any Member state. In addition, attention is given to the countries that are not members of the European Union, because the consequences of disasters in neighboring countries can be transmitted and affect its members.

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This paper will briefly consider some of the contemporary challenges connected with the processes of globalization and their effects on UN peace missions. UN Peace missions have become their most visible concept, witnessed significant growth since the last decade of the 20th century, and have evolved into the cornerstone of the international community as a response to the international crisis. Globalization has entered a turbulent period and emerged as a significant threat to international security, stability and prosperity. If organization is to be a meaningful part of an international mechanism to deal effectively with global security challenges, then UN must understand and take them in consideration during the performing peace missions.

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This scientific article is aimed at providing an overview of historical development of extradition, its nature, changes, legal determination, exposition to political influence, conditions and limitations, as well as its gap between the need to protect rights of an individual in the extradition procedure, on one hand, and the need to suppress growing international crime, on the other. Since extradition bivalent procedure showed inconsistencies in practice, that problem has led to permanent efforts of legal science to increase its efficiency. There are no sufficient scholars writings on extradition in the Balkans and the beginning cooperation among the Balkan states seems to be more or less restrained, despite the fact that the growing international crime has become the real and actual threat not only in this region, Bearing in mind the importance of extradition law for the Balkan countries, this article intends to encourage research and cooperation, because extradition, despite its limitations, remains the most effective tool in suppressing international crime. The method of work used in the article is the comparative analyses of foreign literature as a base for drawing conclusions on the major trends of extradition law.

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Effective management of companies in the energy sector in the countries of the region is essential for their energy security. Therefore, the role of modern corporate corporate governance as a form of effective management is irreplaceable. In the energy sector in the region, the largest economic entities, especially economic entities that manage energy systems (networks), are public companies. The first element for good corporate governance – the corporatization – is not applied in public enterprises in the energy sector. Today, modern corporate governance is most complex process than it has been ever before. Reform and implementation of modern corporate governance is a good way to achieve efficient and effective goals of strengthening enterprise competitiveness. Corporate governance should ensure strategic guidance of the company, work of the assembly and management, supervision of managers, this also including the company and shareholders. Owners and investors are already aware of the necessity to have responsible and professionally skilled employees for the management of a corporate governance system. Obviously, this new era requires a permanent education programme in all fields, and in fact, it is an imperative now. The process of reform of the legal system is connected with most aspects of corporate governance in public enterprises in the energy sector and since the reform process has not been completed, successful business of those enterprises has not potentially improved. Corporate governance is an integrated system with the complicated goal – to achieve the balance between numerous subjects with different interests. Some of those factors are within a public company (shareholders, members of the board, executives, internal auditors, employees), while others come from capital markets (investment banks, external auditors, investments analysts, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc.). In the light of corporate governance phenomenon, the paper has analysed, the ability of a public company to access capital markets and control the risks.

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Incidents, as well as low-intensity conflicts, are often only indicators that two or more states may enter into a wider conflict. Beyond these specific incidents, there is usually a much larger problem between two or more states and the specific incident is only an indicator of a larger conflict. The reasons for the outbreak of small-scale conflicts or incidents may be diverting public attention from a problem within the country to a specific foreign conflict. Such conflicts often represent a shadow of former imperial campaigns of great colonial powers, so the incident is given some measure of \"arrogance\" of a particular state. In the last decades, this so-called \"imperial impulse\" occurred in Spain and the UK. Madrid and London were \"challenged\" and as sovereign countries, they intervened militarily in the respective cases. However, overall ratio and result of such interventions is generally relatively small, considering the military capabilities that are set in motion and disturbance of public opinion that occurs in such situations.