The 2024 Regional Assessment Report reveals a concerning landscape for civil society in the Western Balkans and Türkiye, marking the second consecutive year of a negative trend characterized by a shrinking civic space and an increasingly hostile environment. This assessment, based on the revised DG ENEST Guidelines, highlights significant challenges across various dimensions of civil society operation and engagement.
Deterioration of Enabling Environment
A prominent finding is the observed wave of legislative activity across the region, which frequently introduced restrictions on civic space. Notably, the persistent efforts to enact “foreign agents” laws in Serbia and Türkiye, and the actual adoption of such legislation in Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in February 2025, underscore a worrying trend.
Fundamental freedoms continue to face significant curtailment. Freedom of peaceful assembly, in particular, was observed to be restricted, with environmental and LGBTIQ+ rights defenders experiencing excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Despite existing legal frameworks, the practical protection for human rights defenders and journalists remains inadequate, marked by criminalized defamation, the proliferation of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), and targeted smear campaigns. A substantial 16% of surveyed CSOs reported experiencing threats, physical attacks, or communication interference in 2024.
Furthermore, transparency in public funding for CSOs remains a significant challenge, with only 14% of CSOs perceiving the process as transparent and fair – a figure consistent with previous years.
Challenges in Cooperation and Consultation
The report underscores persistent difficulties in cooperation and partnership between CSOs and public institutions. The inclusion of CSOs in decision- and policy-making processes is neither systematic nor effective, with the proportion of CSOs reporting effective consultation on legislative and strategic documents declining to a mere 19% in 2024, the lowest recorded value. This highlights a critical gap in participatory governance.
Despite the adoption of Reform Agendas for EU accession, these processes often proceeded without meaningful civil society involvement, representing a significant missed opportunity to leverage civil society expertise in national reform efforts. The perception of public officials’ attitudes towards civil society remained largely negative, with only 21% of CSOs considering them supportive.
Moreover, civil society cooperation councils and similar mechanisms were frequently inactive or undermined. Examples from Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, and Serbia illustrate a lack of sustained engagement from public authorities and systemic barriers that hinder the effectiveness of these bodies.
Capacity and Resilience of CSOs
While CSOs demonstrated strengths in organizational learning and financial diversification, the report identifies continued vulnerabilities in their capacity and resilience, particularly concerning organizational accountability, transparency, and policy development. The increasingly hostile operating environment, coupled with funding scarcity, further jeopardizes any potential improvements in these areas.