News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The fifth European SLAPP Contest, organised by the CASE Coalition on 28 April, highlighted individuals and entities using lawsuits to silence critics across Europe. Winners included the Barabás Brothers (HELL ENERGY Ltd, Hungary) as SLAPP Addict of the Year, Belgian politician Claude Eerdekens as SLAPP Politician of the Year, Croatian judge Ivan Marković as SLAPP
Read more →Media freedom in the EU continued to deteriorate in 2025, despite the adoption of new legislation, according to the Liberties Media Freedom Report 2026. While instruments such as the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and the Anti-SLAPP Directive were expected to strengthen protections, slow and often superficial implementation has limited their impact. Persistent concerns remain,
Read more →Reporters Without Borders has released its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, marking its 25th edition, warning of a global deterioration in journalism conditions, with 100 out of 180 countries recording a decline. Political pressure, growing authoritarian tendencies, and a weakened media market continue to undermine press freedom worldwide. In Europe and Central Asia, the region
Read more →As the global community looks beyond 2030, Forus presents its new Vision Paper, What We Defend, Demand and Decline, outlining key priorities for the next global development framework. Based on consultations across a global network representing over 24,000 NGOs, the paper explores possible futures—from continuity to reset or fragmentation—while highlighting the need to defend a
Read more →BCSDN joined over 500 organisations from across Europe’s cultural, media, and civil society sectors in calling for a substantial increase in funding for the AgoraEU programme within the EU’s next long-term budget (2028–2034). Supporting the European Parliament’s position, the coalition highlights that the current allocation—around 0.43% of the EU budget—is insufficient to address rising challenges,
Read more →The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is inviting CSOs to share the challenges they faced in their day-to-day work related to civic space in 2025, along with suggestions on ways forward. The survey is open to CSOs across EU Member States, at EU level, as well as in enlargement countries including Albania, North
Read more →Members of the European Parliament from the Greens/EFA and Renew Europe groups, Vladimir Prebilič and Sandro Gozi, have called on the European Commission to urgently respond to the serious deterioration of the rule of law and democratic standards in Serbia. In a letter addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, they condemn recent police actions targeting
Read more →At a March 2026 conference in Skopje, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) highlighted a critical moment for North Macedonia’s EU path. While public support for EU membership remains strong, reforms must deliver tangible improvements to maintain trust, particularly within a narrowing “window of opportunity” for enlargement. Discussions pointed to largely procedural civil and
Read more →The latest European Democracy Hub report highlights how civil society worldwide faces increasingly severe and existential threats, with restrictions intensifying in speed and scale. Regimes are moving beyond ad hoc measures to undermine the existence of an independent civic sphere, while cuts in western funding further weaken CSOs. The report argues that new thinking is
Read more →The Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index (BTI) 2026 finds that East-Central and Southeast Europe remains the best-performing region among developing and transition countries, combining resilient economies with mixed progress in political transformation. While some countries continue democratic consolidation and Poland has been undoing the damage of previous illiberal rule, backsliding has deepened in Hungary, Slovakia and
Read more →BCSDN contributed to a high-level meeting in Brussels on establishing a European Community of Practice for Human Rights Defenders, hosted by OHCHR. The initiative aims to strengthen coordination, communication, and protection mechanisms for defenders across Europe, though key aspects such as geographic scope are still under discussion. Representing BCSDN, Simona Mladenovska highlighted the need for
Read more →The EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has dismissed a proposal by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to accelerate EU integration for candidate countries without full membership rights. The proposal suggested allowing access to the EU single market and the Schengen area without granting veto power, effectively creating a two-tier
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