Problems of economic development of the Republic of Serbia due to many years of economic sanctions and the destruction of vital economic facilities and transport infrastructure during the NATO bombing has resulted in many negative social phenomena, which are in their overall performance a significant risk factor in the transition process. High rates of unemployment and poverty of a substantial portion of the population, along with the presence of a large number of refugees and internally displaced persons, are potential sources of serious social and political tensions that can produce a situation of high risk. Highly-educated personnel leaving the country, which is caused by the impossibility of adequate employment and evaluation of work, reduces the prospects for faster economic and any other recovery of the country by relying on its own resources. Energy interdependence and vulnerability of infrastructure for production and transportation of fuel, as well as the inevitable trend of attrition of nonrenewable energy resources, are the real threats to energy security and a real challenge to stability and security of the Republic of Serbia. Uneven economic and demographic development of the Republic of Serbia, which was a strong source of crisis in the past, is still a security risk in this region. Different levels of economic development of certain regions, in conjunction with their demographic characteristics, cause the appearance of larger migrations of population from underdeveloped to developed regions, from the regions of extreme overpopulation caused by demographic expansion towards the areas with an extreme depopulation. Demographic trends and migrations, in addition to social problems and the growth of crime, can lead to increased instability and the emergence of risks and threats to the security of the Republic of Serbia. Unresolved status and difficult situation of refugees, displaced and internally displaced persons from the territory of Croatia, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, slow implementation of their safe return and no guarantee of their survival, as well as not resolving the fate of missing persons from those areas complicate the normalization of relations in the territory of former Yugoslavia and represent a potential source of instability in the region. 12