VIEWS: Danijela Stojanova   In the conflict’s ashes lies the seed of reconstruction...   It is difficult to look for a needle in a haystack, but if we want to continue living in this country, we have to find the seed, to plant it and nourish it. I am sure that the beginning does not indicate that further on I will talk about the environment. Very rarely when conflicts, wars and crisis happen or we talk about them, we think of the environment. Later it is seen as a perfect field for common work and trust-building, but most often it is avoided to take responsibility for the consequences. The conflicts are always followed by man and nature’s suffering. The nature’s consequences continue the consequences on the man’s health. Reconstruction of buildings and the environment starts, but can the man’s soul and nature’s spirit be recovered? The “ecological” security is from many aspects more important than the national or economic security. As a matter of fact, most often they depend on each other. Usually, if it is declared that in the town, the country or the region there is a war and poverty, everyone will think that you are either crazy or an enemy. I remember a few years ago when the non-governmental organizations were warning about the war consequences on the environment, nature and man’s health in the region, they were most often accused by the state representatives of not thinking about the country’s economy. However, pollution from the abandoned industrial buildings, bombing the factories, the refineries, the influence on the biological variety, consequences of the uranium, wood-cutting, influence from the refugee crisis, all remain to witness what has happened in this or any other “unstable” region. The consequences are the same regardless of whether they are in Bosnia, Croatia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Macedonia, Africa or Australia...And of course, all these consequences, regardless of whether we are going to say or admit them in public, have influence on the economic development in the country, especially since the capacity for managing and protecting the environment in the region is not on a high level. Without a strong component of “ecological” security, we can never have a permanent and sustainable security, either economic, social, national or international. The breakdowns and damages from the industrial buildings caused by the war actions have caused some unexpected emissions of detrimental substances in the air, soil or water, to an extent which often crosses the borders of the country where the conflict has happened. These damages have influenced the economic weakening of the country and the region, which resulted in discontent and unplanned migration of the population, which additionally endangers the environment. For example, the unplanned migration has resulted in a lot of unplanned settlements in the area of the bigger towns, most often without the necessary public infrastructure. These settlements are a source of uncontrolled public pollution, as well as degradation and losing the agricultural areas, i.e. the environment and in hard economic conditions it is difficult to find a solution. On the other hand, such unexpected migrations are also sources of social and economic discontent and they are dangerous for the country’s security. In the past there were and in the future there will be conflicts more often because of conquering natural resources, especially water. In this case the conflict appears as a consequence of the human carelessness about the environment and nature. However, I should stop talking about the conflicts, because the human security is not always endangered by them. In 1986 there was the Chernobyl catastrophe. Then the pollution influenced the man and alive populations and was a common danger for the society and it certainly damaged the sense of national security. Citizens, non-governmental organizations, media, country, international community, have to face and make some bigger efforts to protect the environment from the declarative planting trees, also organizing conferences, establishing ministries of environment, evaluating or organizing world summits (which, as a matter of fact, influence the environment themselves).