Seventeen Most Dangerous Cities in Europe


02/24/2016

Personal safety is one of the key components of life. Each year, Mercer - one of the largest HR-agencies in the world - publishes its report Quality of Living Index, which also indicates the safest cities to live and work.



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This rating is one of the most comprehensive, and is prepared to help international corporations and other employers to provide their employees fair wages, notes Mercer.

The agency says that the personal safety ranking based on data such as "communications with other countries, internal stability, crime rate and level of maintenance of law and order."

In other words, there is nothing surprising in the fact that cities with warlike activities are found at the very end of the ranking.

Mercer’s analysts have studied situation in 450 cities around the world, and then compiled a list of 230 countries that are the safest for workers.

Despite the fact that the European cities as a whole took a pretty high place in the rankings, there were some of them that, surprisingly, got quite a poor performance in terms of safety.

Below is a rating of 17 most dangerous cities in Europe.

Milan, Italy

Place in the overall ranking: 63
Milan dropped down to 63th place after the FBI warned that the Cathedral of St. Peter, the Duomo and the "La Scala" were under the threat of terrorist attacks.

Barcelona, Spain

Place in the overall ranking: 64
This city is known as one of the world capitals of pocket scam, which is why the city occupies only 64th place.
The British Foreign Office said that Barcelona’s citizens and guests suffer "an increasing number of thefts in the car rental offices," and recommends "to remove all valuables out of sight."

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Place in the overall ranking: 64
This city has fairly low crime rate compared to other cities in Northern Ireland.

Nevertheless, number of people living below the poverty line is very high in Belfast, which leads to low stability and increasing the number of minor offenses.

Tallinn, Estonia

Place in the overall ranking: 66
This picturesque town shows up among the most dangerous cities in Europe, despite the fact that there is a relatively low crime rate. Tallinn’s low position in the safety ranking is linked to drug and human trafficking, which are organized by organized crime groups.

Warsaw, Poland

Place in the overall ranking: 66
Warsaw has one of the lowest crime rates, yet the city hasn’t won a highest place in the ranking because of the protests taking place in Poland.

Paris, France

Place in the overall ranking: 71
Paris received a low rating because the city has repeatedly been subjected to terrorist attacks over the past two years. There was one of the largest terrorist attacks in the country's history, which killed 130 people and injured even more in November last year.

London, Great Britain

Place in the overall ranking: 72
Mercer’s analysts put London on the 72th place even despite the fact that this decision may seem strange. They noted that all cases of civil unrest and terrorist attacks are continuously monitored and analyzed, so that any change that affects quality of life is reflected in the ranking.

Bucharest, Romania

Place in the overall ranking: 79
The level of violent crime and organized crime in Romania is quite low, however, the city occupies 79th place in the overall rankings because of widespread corruption and petty crimes.

Zagreb, Croatia

Place in the overall ranking: 79
Corruption is rampant in Zagreb just like in many cities of Eastern Europe. Bribery put the city only on 79th place in the overall ranking.

Riga, Latvia

Place in the overall ranking: 82
In addition to the protests against the migrants, which are beginning to unfold on the streets of Riga, the city sits only on 82th place in the overall ranking due to the high levels of organized crime and criminal groups that promote prostitution.

Rome, Italy

Place in the overall ranking: 82
Rome dropped to 82nd place after it, like other Italian cities, was given high alert after the terrorist attacks in Paris last November.

Madrid, Spain

Place in the overall ranking: 84
Mercer’s analysts put Madrid on the 84th point due to the civil unrest related to the austerity measures undertaken in the country. These measures have led to an increase in unemployment, especially among the younger population. This, in turn, led to discontent of citizens.

Budapest, Hungary

Place in the overall ranking: 93
City dropped to 93rd place due to the massive increase in civil unrest caused by migrant crisis. Chaos at railway stations and protests on the streets of many cities in the country have led to mass discontent, despite the fact that the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban is trying to reduce the flow of migrants to his and other European countries.

Sofia, Bulgaria

The high level of civil unrest led to the fact that Sophia fell in the rankings to 118th place. Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries of the European Union, which is why people constantly express ther protest against government’s pension cuts and corruption.

Athens, Greece

Place in the overall ranking: 124
Long period of austerity measures, increased levels of poverty and crime led to the fact that Athens fell to 124th place in the rankings. Furthermore, recent political and economic developments in Greece, which led to harsh demonstrations in Athens and other cities of the country, also contributed to the country's decline in safety rating, the Mercer’s analysts say. The influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa does not contribute to improving the situation in general.

Belgrade, Serbia

Place in the overall ranking: 131
The level of violent crime in the city is quite low, but Belgrade has appeared only on 131th place in the overall ranking due to large-scale corruption and money laundering, as well as in connection with a high level of vandalism.

Kiev, Ukraine

Place in the overall ranking: 189
The capital of Ukraine occupies 189th place in the ranking due to the ongoing civil protests. It is noted that the city also has high level of looting, vandalism and mass protests, which have already resulted in killing and injuring many people.