Illicit trade is bringing new security risks to the Balkans

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Illicit trade is bringing new security risks to the Balkans

Counterfeit and contraband tobacco products represent a bigger health hazard than regulated tobacco, while porous borders are a security risk for NATO’s eastern and south eastern flanks. A unnamed smuggler operating at the Romanian Ukrainian border spoke to a local media outlet some years ago confessing something everyone already knew, namely that poverty speaks for itself. “As long as people remain poor, demand for smuggled cigarettes will neve…