Short Description: Call for country and thematic chapters for an edited academic volume examining how civil society responds to and contains authoritarian threats. Contributions may analyse country experiences or cross-country themes and strategies, including protests, strategic litigation, coalition-building, international advocacy, digital security, monitoring, and responses to propaganda and disinformation. Selected chapters should be up to 8,000 words and draw on civil society voices where possible. Location: International / Academic publication Duration: Abstract submission and publication process, December 2026 – mid-2028 Deadline for Applications: 1 December 2026 (abstract of up to 800 words) Link to more information (International Society for Third-…
Author: anja
The European Commission has published its 2026 Rule of Law Report, including country chapters for Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The report identifies persistent challenges affecting civic space, including pressure on civil society and journalists, SLAPPs, political interference, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, and limited access to information. It also highlights uneven public consultation practices, insufficient civil society participation in policymaking, and ongoing concerns regarding financial sustainability, media independence and the effective implementation of safeguards for democratic participation. While acknowledging progress in several reform areas, the Commission reiterates that protecting civic space and ensuring meaningful civil society engagement remain essential…
The Civil Society & Think Tank Forum (CSF) 2026 will take place from 5–7 October in Prishtina, organised by the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans in partnership with the Government of Kosovo and in cooperation with the Government of Montenegro under the Berlin Process Chairmanship. As the official civil society platform of the Berlin Process, the Forum brings together CSOs, think tanks, EU institutions, governments and regional partners to develop joint, evidence-based policy recommendations. This year’s discussions will focus on six thematic areas, including competitiveness, digital transformation, security, civic space and civic space and democratisation, the green transition, and…
BIRN’s latest regional digital rights report documents 152 violations recorded in the first quarter of 2026, highlighting increasing pressure on digital rights across the Western Balkans and Türkiye. The report identifies economic fraud, online harassment, gender-based violence, data breaches and coordinated attacks targeting journalists and civil society as the region’s most pressing digital rights challenges. North Macedonia recorded the highest number of economic fraud cases, while Serbia and Türkiye experienced major data breaches affecting hundreds of thousands of telecom users. In Kosovo, the report highlights a large-scale online gender-based violence case involving the non-consensual sharing of women’s personal data and…
Albania has provisionally closed its first three negotiating chapters in its EU accession process, marking a significant milestone on its path towards EU membership. At the ninth Accession Conference, the country closed the chapters on Science and Research (25), Education and Culture (26), and External Relations (30) following the European Commission’s positive assessment of its rule of law interim benchmarks earlier this year. Welcoming the achievement, the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union described it as proof of both Albania’s and the EU’s commitment to advancing the country’s European integration. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos also…
A report by the IPI and Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium warns that media freedom in Serbia is facing a deepening crisis. The findings point to record levels of violence against journalists, death threats, online smear campaigns, SLAPPs, surveillance and growing political control over the media landscape. In 2025 alone, 209 press freedom violations affecting 359 media workers and outlets were recorded, while a further 100 cases were documented in the first half of 2026. The report highlights attacks on journalists covering protests, police violence, media capture, the prolonged dysfunction of Serbia’s media regulator (REM), and the use of…
More than 30 Albanian CSOs, independent media outlets and human rights defenders, including BCSDN member Partners Albania, have issued a joint public statement condemning recurring smear campaigns and public attacks against journalists, activists and civil society. The signatories warn that these attacks are part of a broader pattern aimed at shifting attention away from issues of public interest, discouraging civic participation and narrowing civic space. They stress that public officials have a responsibility to uphold democratic standards and refrain from using public office to stigmatise or intimidate individuals exercising their fundamental freedoms. The statement calls on state institutions to ensure…
Serbia’s failure to open Cluster 3 in its EU accession negotiations has reinforced concerns that meaningful democratic reforms remain a prerequisite for further progress in the enlargement process. Despite legislative efforts and last-minute reform commitments, persistent shortcomings in the rule of law, judicial independence, media freedom, institutional accountability and alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy continue to undermine confidence among EU Member States. This also highlights the importance of maintaining a merit-based accession process, with democratic progress taking precedence over geopolitical considerations. At the same time, it sends a clear signal that sustainable reform depends on domestic…
The SafeJournalists Network has called for an urgent investigation into death threats against Rami Mislimi, a journalist with Tetova Sot, following his reporting on the President of the Tetovo Municipal Council. According to the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), Mislimi received phone threats targeting both him and his minor child, demanding the removal of published content, and was later allegedly threatened again in person. The case has been reported to the Ministry of Interior and the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tetovo, which is investigating it as “Endangering Security” under the Criminal Code. SafeJournalists stressed that attacks and intimidation…
The Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) has renewed its call for the full decriminalisation of offences against honour and reputation, urging the Government to remove insult and defamation from the Criminal Code as part of the upcoming legislative amendments. While welcoming Croatia’s new Anti-SLAPP law, HND warns that its safeguards do not extend to criminal proceedings, leaving journalists exposed to both civil and criminal liability for their reporting. According to an analysis by the Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law, Croatian courts handled an average of 60 lawsuits containing at least one SLAPP element annually between 2016 and 2023, with…