Skopje, North Macedonia – 30 July 2025 – The Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) expresses deep concern as the CIVICUS Monitor places Serbia on its Watchlist for a rapid decline in civic freedoms, with Turkey also added due to escalating repression. Both nations show deepening threats to the rights of assembly, expression, and association.
Serbia’s continued Watchlist inclusion follows intensifying repression against student-led protests. “While protesters persist in their demands for accountability and systemic change, authorities are seeking to repress the movement with renewed force by unleashing a wave of state-sponsored violence,” said Ine Van Severen, Civic Space Research Lead at CIVICUS. Serbia is rated “obstructed,” facing serious legal and practical barriers for civil society. “We are watching Serbia’s civic freedoms being dismantled in real time,” said Simona Mladenovska, Policy and Advocacy Officer at the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN). “Again, we are raising the alarm and urge the international community – especially the EU – to back words with action. We welcome the growing awareness, but the response must match the scale of repression”. Authorities have used police violence, mass detentions, surveillance, and intimidation, with over 400 detentions in early July alone. President Aleksandar Vučić has pardoned individuals linked to his party who assaulted a student, encouraging violence against protesters. State agents have also intensified surveillance and criminalization of activists.
Turkey’s addition to the Watchlist follows a brutal crackdown on massive protests sparked by the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. This repression includes violence, censorship, arrests, and intimidation targeting protesters, journalists, lawyers, and LGBTQI+ communities. Turkey is rated “repressed,” indicating severe restrictions on civic freedoms. “The scale of repression of protests in Turkey is staggering,” said Simona Mladenovska, Policy and Advocacy Officer at the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN).
Serbia and Turkey join Kenya, El Salvador, Indonesia, and the United States on the latest Watchlist.
The CIVICUS Monitor’s 2024 ratings for Balkan countries are as follows:
- Obstructed: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece
- Narrowed: Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia
The CIVICUS Monitor tracks civic freedoms across 198 countries and territories, rating them as ‘closed,’ ‘repressed,’ ‘obstructed,’ ‘narrowed,’ or ‘open. ’ BCSDN is a research partner in this process, contributing to the data collection and analysis for the Western Balkans.