BCSDN has published its 12th Monitoring Matrix Regional Report, assessing the enabling environment for civil society across the Western Balkans and Türkiye in 2025. Presented at an online launch on 27 October, the report highlights a persistent gap between legislative commitments and the realities faced by civil society. Restrictions on fundamental freedoms, financial uncertainty and limited influence over decision-making remained widespread. Serbia and Türkiye experienced particularly severe pressures, while restrictive legislative initiatives raised concerns in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Yet 2025 also brought important victories, including the annulment of Republika Srpska’s “foreign agents” law, the withdrawal of proposed restrictions on road blockades in Montenegro, improved VAT exemption procedures in Albania and renewed commitments to government–civil society cooperation. The discussion also reflected on developments in 2026, both across the region and within the EU, highlighting the need for more consistent institutional responses to civic space restrictions and stronger links between monitoring evidence and timely action, including through BCSDN’s emerging Regional Civic Space Early Warning System.Read more about the report’s findings and recommendations here.
Source: BCSDN