BERLIN – Participants of the Civil Society Forum 2024, held from October 9 to 11 in Berlin, called on the leaders of the Berlin Process to adopt conclusions next week on support for the rule of law and democracy in the Western Balkans. At the Forum, which was also attended by Žaklina Živković, the executive vice-rector of Polekol, during three days, decision-makers from the region and the EU discussed the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, the rule of law, gender equality, youth policies and other important topics. Participants also proposed a conclusion calling on the governments of the Western Balkans to refrain from all forms of direct and indirect repression of civil society.
The summit of the Berlin Process 2024, which will mark the initiative’s tenth anniversary, will be held on October 14 in the German capital. The leaders of the Western Balkans Six will participate in the Summit, as well as representatives of the institutions of the European Union, the Federal Government of the Republic of Germany and the EU governments. As in previous years, the Summit is preceded by the Forum of Civil Society and Think Tanks.
In light of growing concerns about the state of the rule of law and democracy in the region, the participants of the forum called on the governments of the Western Balkan six to show a strong commitment to the implementation of rule of law standards as a precondition for accelerating reforms related to EU accession, in accordance with the principle of EU enlargement “basics first.” They also called on governments to refrain from all kinds of direct and indirect repression of civil society, activists and media in the region, and to oppose the adoption of restrictive laws and regulations that narrow the space for civil society.
The initiative was supported by over 20 civil society organizations from the region, including:
• Youth Initiative for Human Rights Serbia
• Renewable Energy and Regulatory Policy Institute (RERI)
• Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina
• Center for Contemporary Politics
• Transparency Serbia
• Media Institute of Montenegro
• Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
• BFPE Foundation for Responsible Society
• Center for Investigative Journalism
• NGO “Why not”
• Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• European Fund for the Balkans
• Institute for Media Diversity
• Center for Policy and Management
• Institute for Environmental Policy
• ESTIMA Association
• Reactor – research in action
• Society for the Protection and Conservation of Nature of Albania (PPNEA)
• Active Roma community of Albania
• Sarajevo Open Center
• The voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians
• Aarhus Center BiH
• Organization for political ecology Polekol
• Association of ecologists of Montenegro
Source portal European Western Balkans