Editorial Uvodnik It is again my pleasure to introduce another English language Issue of the Journal of Criminal Justice and Security, this one edited by Jack Greene and Gorazd Mesko. Organized crime activities in Eastern and Central Europe are under increasing scrutiny within the European Union generally, since the countries located here are being used more and more as staging points for expansion of criminal structures within the greater Europe. This is especially true of countries such as Germany, and perhaps to a lesser extent France and Italy. Moreover the European integration process and the relaxation of border controls create unique opportunities for further growth of those criminal networks. Increasingly, these groups are able to tap into their specialization and acquired experience, and further enlarge their illegal activities, as has been the case over the past 20 years. With the collapse of communism in 1989, this new challenge for security authorities across the European Union has emerged and will most certainly need to be addressed further to provide safety and security to its citizens. Focusing on criminal justice and security issues relating to organized crime in Southeastern Europe, this volume includes contributions from scholars from several countries on a variety of timely and interesting topics, specifically variations in organized crime and the ways Western Balkan countries are addressing such matters. This edition includes research and policy discussions from Bosnia-Herzegovinian, Macedonia, and Slovenia, as well as issues affecting the area more generally. The authors, editors, and I hope you find the following contributions both interesting and educational. Chuck Fields Associate editor for English issues 167 168 Uvodnik Uvodnik Z zadovoljstvom predstavljam novo tematsko številko revije Varstvoslovja v angleškem jeziku, tokratna gostujoča urednika sta Jack Greene in Gorazd Meško. Aktivnosti organizirane kriminalitete v Vzhodni in Srednji Evropi so v Evropski uniji pod vse večjim nadzorom, saj so njene države vse bolj in bolj uporabljane kot odskočne točke za razširjanje kriminalnih struktur znotraj celotne Evrope. To velja predvsem za države, kot je Nemčija in verjetno v nekoliko manjšem obsegu tudi Francija in Italija. Evropski integracijski proces in sprostitev obmejnih kontrol omogoča edinstvene priložnosti za nadaljnje širjenje teh kriminalnih mrež. Te skupine so vse bolj in bolj sposobne izkoristiti svojo specializacijo in pridobljene izkušnje za povečano širjenje ilegalnih aktivnosti, kot to počnejo že v zadnjih 20-ih letih. Evropska unija je tako, s propadom komunizma leta 1989, postavljena pred nove izzive, ki bodo vsekakor morali biti deležni nadaljnje pozornosti za zagotavljanje varnosti njenih državljanov. Pričujoča številka revije Varstvoslovje se osredotoča na vprašanja kazenskega pravosodja in varnosti v Jugovzhodni Evropi in vsebuje prispevke strokovnjakov nekaterih držav, ki se nanašajo na različna časovna obdobja in različne teme, povezane z organizirano kriminaliteto in načini, s katerimi se države vzhodnega Balkana soočajo. Vključene so raziskave in razprave iz Bosne in Hercegovine, Makedonije in Slovenije kot tudi vprašanja, ki se nanašajo na tematiko bolj v splošnem. Avtorji in uredniki upamo, da se vam bodo prispevki zdeli zanimivi in poučni. Chuck Fields Odgovorni urednik angleških številk 169