Balkan Civil Society Development Network

🚨 Solidarity with the Serbian people! ✊

BCSDN, alongside with 130 CSOs across Europe, is joining the call for justice, democracy, and fundamental freedoms in Serbia.

📌 CSOs are crucial partners in ensuring democratic reforms and accountability.
📌 Enlargement must remain merit-based, values-driven, and transparent.
📌 Stronger EU engagement is needed to protect civic freedoms in accession countries.

🔗 Read more: shorturl.at/UcPSK
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🌍 Civic Space in EU Enlargement: BCSDN’s High-Level Policy Dialogues in Brussels 🇪🇺

BCSDN’s recent high-level policy discussions in Brussels gathered EU policymakers, civil society representatives, and experts to discuss the role of civic space in the EU enlargement process.
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In a joint statement, CSOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina warn that these laws undermine independent work and could lead to limitations on fundamental rights.
🔗 Read more: shorturl.at/N8L08
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⚠️ CSOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina Raise Alarm Over New Laws in Republika Srpska 🏛️🚨
The recently adopted "Foreign Agents Law" and Criminal Code amendments raise concerns about restrictions on civil society and media freedoms. 📣📜
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🚨 BCSDN Condemns Targeted Institutional Pressure on Civic Initiatives and Civil Society in Serbia
On February 25, authorities raided Civic Initiatives, CRTA, Trag Foundation, Center for Practical Politics, and KOMS—without search warrants or explanation.

🔗 Full reaction here cutt.ly/Trrn2sIa

BCSDN Members Meeting in progress! Strategising current and upcoming network activities, responding to current civic space challenges in the Western Balkans and Türkiye.

🗣 Taulant Hoxha, KCSF & BCSDN Chair:
"The EU must not lose its leverage as a democratic force. A united European civic space starts long before accession—it must include enlargement countries now."
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Biljana Spasovska, BCSDN Executive Director:
"If accession is to be a real opportunity for transformation, it must include clear, enforceable mechanisms that protect civic space and ensure the inclusion of all citizens."
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Nikola Burazer, European Western Balkans:
"Superficial reforms keep getting rewarded while backsliding goes unchecked. How does a country drift into autocracy inside the EU accession process?"
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Gordan Bosanac, MEP (Greens/EFA):
"Civic space in Serbia is under serious threat. We must acknowledge the growing global divide and ensure civil society remains at the forefront of defending democracy."
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Valentina Superti, European Commission:
"We are witnessing a global divide—not just over resources, but values. Civil society is a key partner in defending democracy in this shifting landscape."🧵2/6
#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

"How Do We Get to an Enlargement That Delivers?"
📍 LIVE from Brussels | Western Balkans Civil Society Policy Dialogues
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🚨 Happening today! Civil society & policymakers meet in Brussels to discuss EU enlargement that delivers. Can democracy & reforms remain at the core of the process?

📍 EPC, Brussels | ⏰ 15:30 CET

#WesternBalkans #EUIntegration #Democracy

📌How do we get to an enlargement that delivers?

Biljana Spasovska,BCSDN and Taulant Hoxha,KCSF, & BCSDN Chair will discuss how civil society can defend democracy and the rule of law, the EU’s role in protecting civic space, and ways to strengthen CSO-EU collaboration amid growing global pressures.

👉Kicking off our BlueSky activity with our Brussels advocacy!
Important discussions at @eucivicforum.bsky.social today!
WB & EU CSOs tackling challenges to civic space, democratic backsliding, and shrinking participation.

Thanks, ECF, for bringing us together!