The study, which covers all south-east European countries, assesses Croatia's private security sector as positive in principle, but notes than some parts of that sector in the entire region are strongly linked with organised crime and, in some cases, with nationalist policies. Serbia is singled out in that context, because it lacks legislation on private security firms.
The study notes that the private security sector in Croatia is well regulated in terms of legislation and that it is constantly growing thanks to the recovering economy. This sector is likely to undergo additional professionalisation and international security firms are very likely to enter the Croatian market thanks to the latest legislative changes, reads the study.
Saferworld sees possible causes for concern in the public impression of rivalry between the state-run security sector (police and the state security firm AKD Zastita) and private security firms.
Another problem highlighted in the study is unconfirmed information about links between a small number of private security firms and organised crime, but the study notes that those reports are allegations by individuals that are not backed by any concrete evidence.
The study recommends adjusting old or problematic regulations from the 2003 Law on Private Security, introducing control of some firms to prevent their abuse for organised crime, and considering the possibility of banning security firms from giving donations to politicians during election campaigns or at least forcing them to be fully transparent with regard to such donations.
The study also suggests introducing additional monitoring of the security sector along with the existing control performed by the Interior Ministry, and enabling parliamentary committees and the public ombudsman to supervise the work of security firms.