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On 5 October 2000, the citizens of Serbia toppled Slobodan Miloševic in what came to be known as the “Bulldozer Revolution”. This watershed event symbolizes not only the end of a decade of authoritarian rule but also the beginning of a double transition: from authoritarian rule to democracy, on the one hand, and from a series of armed conflicts to peace, on the other. This transition has thoroughly transformed Serbian politics in general and Serbia’s security sector in particular. This October, Serbia’s democracy celebrated its tenth anniversary. The jubilee is an appropriate opportunity to reflect on the past decade. With this aim in mind, the report will seek to analyse the impact of democratization on security sector governance in Serbia over the period 2000-2010. In order to do so, in the first part of the report we have developed an analytical framework for studying democratic security sector governance, which is defined as the transparent organization and management of the security sector based on the accountability of decision-makers, respect for the rule of law and human rights, checks and balances, equal representation, active civic participation, public agreement and democratic oversight. Thus defined, democratic security sector governance can be analyzed through its five dimensions: horizontal accountability, vertical accountability, rule of law, representativeness, and transparency. In the second part, the report discusses the wider context in which both democratization and security sector reform have taken place. As is shown, a set of structural, institutional and ideational factors have been constraining fast and comprehensive democratic security sector reforms. In the third part, the paper analyzes both the achievements made and the challenges faced by Serbia in the five dimensions of democratic security sector governance over the past decade. It concludes that formal mechanisms of democratic security sector governance have largely been established, albeit slowly and imperfectly. Additionally, it shows that the implementation of both the letter and the spirit of the newly introduced democratic norms have yet to be consolidated in practice. The biggest achievement has been made in the establishment of civilian executive control, while weak parliamentary oversight remains the central challenge. In the final part, we offer several policy recommendations. First, we argue that it is of the utmost importance that both domestic policy-makers and the international community begin to pay more attention not only to the establishment of a formal institutional framework but also to the question of the practical implementation of democratic security sector reforms. It is argued that the EU has a key role to play here through its conditionality policy. Second, we call for a set of constitutional and legislative changes which could improve the institutional framework for democratic security sector governance in Serbia. Third, the report proposes that more space and capacities should be created so that the National Assembly and other oversight bodies can control and oversee the rest of the security sector autonomously and effectively. Fourth, we propose ways to intensify the active participation of civil society in security and defence matters.

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