The abrupt and sweeping U.S Administration Executive Order, freezing most U.S. foreign aid for 90 days, among which USAID funding, has disrupted programs worldwide, including in the Western Balkans. The Executive Order jeopardizes critical humanitarian aid and development assistance, security programmes, responses to health crises, and support for vulnerable communities. At the same time, it undermines initiatives that protect and strengthen rule of law and democratic governance. The justification for this is to all foreign assistance programs to ensure their efficiency, and alignment with the new U.S. foreign policy. The stated justification—to evaluate all foreign assistance programs for efficiency and alignment with the new U.S. foreign policy—has, in practice, provided an opportunity for widespread attacks against civil society.
In the Western Balkans, USAID programmes played a critical role in fostering transparent governance, anti-corruption efforts, citizen engagement, and civic resilience. The sudden funding halt has disrupted essential programs supporting independent media, marginalized groups, economic competitiveness, citizen participation, and accountability. As a result, organizations and media are struggling to retain their staff, support partners, and sustain their work —at a time when civic space is already under growing pressure.
Beyond the immediate financial disruption, this decision has become a political tool for those seeking to weaken civil society, independent media, and liberal values. The political ideology behind the Executive Order has provided a powerful pretext to intensify attacks towards civil society by right-wing and nationalist actors in the region. Political figures, their media allies, and individuals are exploiting this decision to justify and escalate long-standing efforts to discredit CSOs as corrupt, partisan, and driven by foreign agendas. The halting of USAID programmes—particularly for human rights-based initiatives—was widely welcomed by these groups, who have used it as an opportunity to frame any initiative promoting liberal values as a threat to national identity and traditional values.
A wide smear campaign, using aggressive social media attacks and misleading narratives has been launched in the region to discredit CSOs, journalists, and media representatives—especially those who had been supported by these programs. False or partial portrayals of project funding—deliberately ignoring its tangible benefits at local, national, and regional levels—have fueled disinformation and intimidation, eroding CSOs’ legitimacy and branding them as foreign agents.
BCSDN members and their representatives have not been spared from these attacks either. They have been targeted in coordinated smear campaigns, with confidential financial details leaked to the media. As key actors promoting accountability, transparency, and democratic development, these attacks represent a direct attempt to erode public trust in civic engagement and weaken civil society’s role in fostering democracy.
As civil society faces growing hostility, it is crucial to recognize CSOs not merely as aid recipients but as essential partners in societal development. The negative portrayal of CSOs, often reducing them solely to their funding sources, distorts the reality of their role in the region. Undermining CSOs means weakening the public good, silences independent voices, and dismantles crucial support structures for citizens.
Now more than ever, civil society and its allies must push back against this narrative, defend democratic spaces, and expose the deliberate disinformation campaign that seeks to dismantle decades of progress.