The European Commission has published the 2022 country reports for the Western Balkans and Turkey. A key novelty in the 2022 Enlargement Package is granting “conditional” candidate status for BiH. While the EU recognizes the active and vibrant Western Balkans civil society role in monitoring governmental action and contributing to policymaking, some of the main critical findings regarding the civil society enabling environment in the region are that: an enabling environment for developing and financing civil society organizations is lacking; there are weakly institutionalized mechanisms for cooperation between civil society and the government; there is a misuse of security measures and laws on various issues across the region; and there are civic space obstructions and the smear campaign in Turkey, Serbia, and Republika Srpska. The report further recommends that the legal and institutional framework in the region should be further improved, enhancing the availability and transparency of public funding. Read the full report here. Stay tuned, and regularly check our website and social media for the BCSDN 13th Background analysis of the enlargement package.
