News and updates from BCSDN and the region
Seven international rights organizations sent an open letter to the Albanian Parliament, raising their concern over the reports that the ruling party in the country is pressing on with legislation, targeting online media, despite the Venice Commission’s international criticism. In the letter, they urge the Parliament to reconsider the ongoing legislative procedure and put a
Read more →The report is part of the latest edition of the Civil Society Organization (CSOSI) Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. It presents Bulgaria’s political situation in 2019, marked with polarization, populism, political struggles, and deteriorated CSO sustainability. Several legislative proposals questioned basic standards of freedom of association, such as access to funding
Read more →The report indicates that one of the essential factors that contribute to extending the right to participation is the monitoring and reporting of the legal and administrative framework’s implementation. The first part of the report constitutes the roof of the three-section report and the information that was provided regarding the “Monitoring Report of Guidelines for
Read more →Civil society Europe with its members and allies, published a statement to contribute to the European Commission consultation on the European Democracy Action Plan. The statement indicates that EU’s core values- democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights, have been facing increasing challenges within the EU during the last years, including the shrinking civic
Read more →The Open Government Partnership (OGP) provides government and civil society reformers an opportunity to make governments more transparent, participatory, and accountable. Working together, government and civil society in 78 countries and several local members cocreate two-year action plans with concrete commitments across a variety of sectors. The first section features two commitments that fall within
Read more →The European Democracy Action Plan is a chance for the EU to articulate a vision and ambition for European democracies. The Action Plan should provide a comprehensive framework to guide the EU and EU Member States in enacting this vision for strengthening democracy. The paper presents several areas that the Action Plan should contribute to
Read more →The Protection Working Group under the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace, and Security, and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth (OSGEY) recently started working on protection of young activists/ human rights defenders/ peacebuilders and other youth who are active in civic spaces. They are currently organizing online global consultations with young people who
Read more →CIVICUS spoke with Ivana Teofilović from Civic Initiatives about the causes of recent protests and the government’s reaction to them and Serbia’s elections under the COVID-19 pandemic. The immediate reason for the mass and spontaneous gathering of citizens in July 2020 was the announcement of the introduction of a new curfew, that is, another 72-hour
Read more →The research presents that CSOs tend to coincide in their definitions of values of democracy, the rule of law, and solidarity, even if they unveil more diverse interpretations of them. It also reveals that CSOs recognize the vital role that the civil sector plays in promoting these values. CSOs also face different challenges promoting these
Read more →Anti-government protests turned into violence on the 56th day in Bulgaria. On this occasion, more than 50 people have been hurt, while almost 100 of them have been arrested. The police guarded the Bulgarian parliament weathered smoke bombs, firecrackers, and stones. Thousands of citizens have been calling every day in the streets on the Bulgarian
Read more →Regulators have struggled to keep up with the track of the change in online political campaigning. With the technology’s development, the problems have become more apparent. There are disinformation and divisive content, exploitation of algorithms and use of bots, cyborgs and fake accounts, micro-targeting based on detailed personal data, etc. Freedom of expression is essential,
Read more →Albania’s system for publishing government legislation was fragmented and ineffective. The lack of information was a problem, taking into account the new decentralization reforms that endowed local governments with a wide range of responsibilities. At the urging of INFOCIP, an Albanian NGO that promotes transparency and the rule of law, the Albanian government committed to
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