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Bad Boys in the Baltics (From Transnational Organised Crime: Perspectives on Global Security, P 131-142, 2003, Adam Edwards and Peter Gill, eds. -- See NCJ-212841)

NCJ Number
212848
Author(s)
Paddy Rawlinson
Date Published
2003
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This chapter presents findings from the United Kingdom, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project on crime borders and policing, which attempts to discover the nature and extent of the threat of Russian-speaking organized crime in and across the Baltic States.
Abstract
A key insight from this chapter is that citizens of Central and Eastern European (CEE) states should be considered as victims of organized criminality and not just the source of threats to the Eastern Union. A contradiction is discussed between the domestic priorities of CEE states and their subordination to the priorities of the European Union by focusing on responses to organized crime in the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The author argues that “the effect of misjudged risk assessments and of external agendas threaten to confound reform and could prove to be detrimental to the development of good governance." The Baltic States lie at the eastern frontier of the European Union expansion and will effectively become crime control sentries for the new Europe. The chapter presents findings from the ESRC project. “Crime Borders and Law Enforcement: A European Dialogue for Improving Security, which attempted to discover the nature and extent of the threat of Russian-speaking organized crime in and across the Baltic States. It is not surprising that the Baltic States are seen as targets of and transit for Russian organized crime. As republics of the Soviet Union, the Baltic States served as a corridor for the movement of illegal goods. The Baltic States now have a double-responsibility--the policing of domestic and transnational organized crime. Notes, references