At the 2025 Democracy & Rights Conference in Copenhagen, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) led an interactive Skill and Capacity Lab titled “From Civic Space Struggles to EU Impact: Advocacy Pathways and Alliances for Civil Society in Europe.” The session, facilitated by Maja Stojanović of Civic Initiatives (Serbia) and Simona Mladenovska from BCSDN, explored how civil society across Europe, both in EU Member States and enlargement countries, can engage more strategically with EU institutions to defend civic space and strengthen democracy. Drawing on BCSDN’s regional monitoring and advocacy work, the discussion highlighted Serbia as a case study of gradual democratic decline, where long-term institutional erosion led to a “collapse of the canopy” of civic protections. BCSDN’s evidence-based monitoring has supported effective advocacy, including contributing to the European Parliament’s strongest resolution on Serbia to date. Read more here.
Source: BCSDN
