Managing consequences of terrorist attacks in the South East Europe: the Case of Macedonia

Many governments develop strategies for terrorist attack consequence management focused on reactive measures to mitigate the destructive effects of terrorist attacks, incidents and natural disasters. Giving that modern terrorism practiced by radical Islamists occupy and bread from the modern societies weaknesses derived from its historic and political dynamics effective management of terrorist attack in such situation requires more than post-festum reaction. Former is especially relevant for the region of South East Europe where complex political, ethnic and religious environment dictate the governments’ ability to effectively cope with terror attack(s) consequences. Jasarevic attack in Bosnia, murder attack at Smilkovci Lake in Macedonia and attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria are just recent evidences of the threat that radical Islamists pose to the Region. Unlike Bosnian and Bulgarian terrorist attacks, during Smilkovci terrorist attack suspect terrorists and targets were with local nationality prefix. Macedonian Government’s reaction was swift. Government succeeded to maintain stability, part of the suspected terrorists was arrested and court was provided with material evidence linked with terrorism. However, unlike other two cases Smilkovci consequence management provoked many reactions, thus proving that complex political environment require wider considerations to be taken in to account. Furthermore Smilkovci terrorist attack confirmed (and this is relevant for the rest of the SEE Governments) that if Macedonian Government is about to effectively manage future terrorist attacks consequences needs to consider preventive measures focused on cohesive and resilient society