All posts by : SMART Balkans

Republic of Kosovo

The Republic of Kosovo has an area of 10,887 km² and a population of 1,798,188, based on the report of the Agency for Statistics in Kosovo (2021). According to the 2011 census report, the population of Kosovo is composed of 92.1% Albanians, 3.4% Serbs, and 5.4% other communities such as Bosnians, Turks, Roma, Ashkali, etc. Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe, with an average age of 30.5 years, based on Eurostat Kosova data (2020).

In February 2022, Kosovo celebrated the 14 years of Independence, as the country declared its Independence in 2008. Until 2022, 117 countries have recognized Kosovo as an Independent state, however state recognition continues to be of crucial importance for the country to consolidate its’ sovereignty. During these years, the country focused in the state building process aiming to develop solid institutions, legal frameworks and state development strategies. Having in consideration the country’s history, topics of security, stability, governance and EU integration are upon the priorities of the government and civil society organizations.

The regional cooperation is still a challenge for Kosovo, as the country is still not recognized as an independent state from other Western Balkan countries such as Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the relations with Serbia are not yet stabilized. Kosovo has held talks with Serbia on normalizing relations between the two countries, a process supported by the EU and a crucial step for both countries toward a normalization agreement, but based on the Commission report, this process remains slow and little progress has been made. The state recognition process brings to Kosovo the obstacle to be a member of NATO regardless of the interest of the country to be part of the Partnership for Peace Programme.

Moreover, Kosovo is the only state in the region where its citizens are not allowed to travel in Schengen area without visa, and the free liberalization visa process has become a wide discussed topic within the citizens of Kosovo, government and civil society organizations. Regardless of different attempts and requests, this is still an unresolved issue. Although the Commission confirmed in 2018 that Kosovo meets the requirements of the visa liberalization roadmap, the process is still pending before the Council.

The political situation in Kosovo has experienced changes in the last years, where three elections have been held in less than four years. After the new government was set (2021), there were changes in the number of ministries and their portfolios compared to those of the last government. To improve the coordination of institutional structures for European integration in the country, the government established Ministerial Council for European Integration. This council is responsible for implementing EU-related reforms. In addition, the European Integration agenda is covered now by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. According to the World Bank Worldwide Governance Index (2020), Kosovo scores low in all governance indicators, where Voice and Accountability is scored 39,61% from a scale of 0 to 100%, Political Stability and Absence of Violence/terrorism (36,79%), Government Effectiveness (40.87%), Regulatory Quality (41.35%), Rule of Law (38,94%) and Control of Corruption (36,54%).

Civil society in Kosovo has shown to be more consolidated and functional when compared to other Balkan countries. The relationship between the civil society organization and the government is increased and some good practices happened during the last years including’; an increased commitment of the Good Governance Office at the Prime Minister Officer, support of international donors and EU technical assistance. However more needs to be done when it comes to improving collaboration of civil society with government and increase civil society influence in policy making. In this regard, the government has adopted the 2019-2023 strategy to address the priorities and objectives that were not fulfilled in the last strategy. Nevertheless, of the progress, the civil society organizations work in an enabling environment mainly in the capital Pristina where the information is easily accessible and organizations are more consolidated. The situation is not the same in other cities and villages of Kosovo, where still the civil society sector does not influence decision making processes at local or National level.

Relevant strategies

• National Development Strategy (2021-2030)
• Joint Action Plan on counter-terrorism for the Western Balkans
• Strategy for cooperation with civil society 2019-2023
• Rule of Law Strategy and Action Plan
• Public Administration Reform Strategies

SMART Balkans project will directly contribute to strengthen cooperation between civil society and government institutions in Kosovo which is considered a priority in the government Strategy for Cooperation with Civil Society (2019-2023). Specifically, the project will help increase civil society participation in policymaking, improve accountability and transparency in public funding of CSOs, develop practices and procedures for contracting CSOs for the provision of public service and increase volunteerism in public benefit programs.

https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/kosovo-report-2021_en

The estimated number of population in the Republic of Serbia in 2020 was 6 899 126 (the estimations are based on the results of natural changes statistics and population internal migration). Observed by sex, 51.3% were women  (3 538 820) and 48.7% were men (3 360 306).

A newly formed government created a Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and social dialogue. Even though this is a step forward, further efforts are still needed to ensure systematic cooperation between the government and civil society. There needs to be an environment that enables development and financing of civil society organisations (CSOs), due to many attacks against CSOs that are continued (including verbal attacks and Parliament).

Civil society should be empowered, and is a crucial component of any democratic system. Human rights defenders and CSOs raise awareness about civil and political rights, and should be recognized and treated by state institutions. 

In December 2020, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) expressed concerns regarding the allegations that Serbia had misused in July 2020 its law on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism with the aim to restrict or coerce civil society actors for their work and criticism of the government. In its plenary session of April 2021, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism of the Council of Europe (MONEYVAL) called on all members to ensure that the FATF Recommendations are not intentionally or unintentionally used to suppress the legitimate activities of civil society. 

Several CSOs suffered attacks including verbal, smear campaigns and their financing ending up in tabloid newspapers, as well as in Parliament even though a code of conduct was adopted in December 2020. Individuals and organisations are under particular pressure if they criticise the authorities in developments related to the rule of law. A legal framework for cooperation between the government and CSOs is broadly in place, but its implementation needs improvement and systematisation. Some CSOs have reported that the time given for public consultations was too short or that their comments on draft laws were not sufficiently considered and looked into. 

The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue took among others the competencies of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and initiated a series of public dialogues on various topics (general interest, gathering members of the government, independent bodies, international organisations and CSOs).  

The following paragraphs have been citated from the European Commission’s Report for Serbia in 2021:

The National Convention on the EU has continued to monitor and assess the progress of accession negotiations. A national strategy and action plan to help create a positive environment for CSOs have still not been adopted. A council for civil society cooperation has yet to be set up. In order to mitigate the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Serbia adopted a regulation on fiscal benefits and direct payments to economic entities recognising CSOs as potential users of economic aid. 

The Government adopted a National Strategy for Gender Equality on 14 October 2021. During the COVID-19 crisis, the Commissioner for Equality issued several recommendations to the government related to the restriction of movement of the elderly, persons with disability and lack of support services to vulnerable groups. Roma women, older women, poor women, women with disabilities, refugee and internally displaced women, continue to experience intersecting forms of discrimination, which was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. On violence against women and domestic violence, a new strategy was adopted in April 2021. The latest national action plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security covers the period 2017-2020 and a new one is pending. In February 2021, a former mayor was sentenced to three months in prison for ‘illegal sexual activity’ towards one of his staff. Although the case was not qualified as ‘sexual harassment’, this was the first case of an elected official being sentenced to prison for this type of case. The implementation of the law against domestic violence needs to be improved. An integrated system for collecting and monitoring cases of violence disaggregated by type of violence and by relationship between perpetrator and victim still does not exist. The definition of rape still has to be amended in the criminal code in order to comply with the Istanbul Convention. An action plan on the national programme for safeguarding and improving sexual and reproductive health has yet to be adopted. Additional funding is needed to ensure it is implemented as regards improving access to quality services in this area. Serbia has some level of preparation to implement the EU acquis on justice, freedom and security. Limited progress was made in the reporting period. Serbia continued to significantly contribute, as a transit country, to the management of the mixed migration flows towards the EU by playing an active and constructive role and cooperating effectively with its neighbours and EU Member States. It also continued to effectively implement the integrated border management strategy and its action plan. Serbia has yet to establish a convincing track record of effective investigations, prosecutions and final convictions in serious and organised crime cases, and to further align with the EU visa policy. The recommendations from the 2020 country report remain outstanding, except for continuing increasing border controls, especially border surveillance including identification and registration measures in full respect of fundamental rights, and increase efforts to detect and prevent smuggling of migrants.

North Macedonia’s’ population is currently at 1 836 713, according to Balkan insight and the population shrunk by 9.2 per cent over two decades. This is 185 834 less than the number from the last census. About 207 areas, mostly villages, are currently uninhabited. Even though many changes occurred, the ethnic composition of the population hasn’t had many changes. Almost 60 per cent are ethnic Macedonians and a bit under 25 per cent are Albanians. The minorities are Turks, Roma, Serbs and Bosniaks. In case of taking into account the non-residential population, the ratio of the majorities’ shifts and in the favor of the Albanians (Macedonians at about 55 per cent and Albanians at almost 30 per cent). In comparison to the previous census from 2002, the number of Albanians remained constant, but the number of ethnic Macedonians decreased. A factor that might have impacted this data is that over 130 000 refused to take part in the local headcount (but have been included in the final number of residents). There were many technical difficulties and a call for boycott while conducting the headcount, due to citing the suspicion of rigging. The results didn’t show a large number of Bulgarians in North Macedonia, the number of people that have identified themselves as Bulgarian is a bit over 3 500 (about 1 500 on the previous record). 

The Bulgarian government has backed its claim about more than 100 000 Bulgarians with the fact that a large number of passports it gave to North Macedonia citizens since it joined the EU. It is argued that the Bulgarian minority has been subjected to repression, but it is widely suspected that most people took Bulgarian passports for practical EU-related reasons and easier travel. Bulgaria has been blocking the beginning of accession negotiations of North Macedonia and the European Union. Due to new governments in both countries and the fact that the problem is based on an historical dispute, there is hope for a future compromise. 

The new prime minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovačevski and the new prime minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov have expressed a hope for better collaboration of the two countries. The ultimatum of the previous Bulgarian government with Prime Minister Bojko Borisov asked that North Macedonia accepts that are both Macedonian Nation and the Macedonian language with Bulgarian character and have its heritage. This also impacts the security in the area, especially of the Bulgarian government. The potential compromises could cause problems in Bulgaria and two out of four coalition parties refuse the initiative of Prime Minister Petkov that goes in the direction of compromising with Skopje. 

According to IFMES there are increased challenges and threats in North Macedonia. After long-lasting and complex negotiations the political leaders in North Macedonia have made an agreement in June 2016. (Pržino Agreement) to overcome the long-lasting political crisis. This was caused by illegal eavesdropping on over 20 000 citizens and regime robbery of over five billion euros of public money, holding early parliamentary elections in December 2016 with the fulfillment of some preconditions. The electoral list was cleared with a surplus of as many as 330 000 voters and appropriate media regulation was established (equal access and treatment in the media was provided to all political entities participating in the election process instead of the full media hegemony).  The political, diplomatic and broader social paradigms in North Macedonia began to change six years ago when Zoran Zaev launched a wave of democratic and peaceful change of government, which led to a new and more positive situation. 

The previously mentioned illegal eavesdropping some of the governmental employees in the field of Security and Counterintelligence Directorate have tapped close to 4 300 telephone numbers without obtaining court orders, directly or indirectly damaged more than 20 000 people. While examining illegal actions from the government, we should also mention the former N. Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who was sentenced to two years in prison for the illegal purchase of a luxury car worth 600 000 euros and currently is on the run. 

NATO membership completes Macedonian statehood. It guarantees the survival and territorial integrity of the modern Macedonian state (no one can count on Northern Macedonia for its large-scale projects). This country has changed and impacted on many things within itself and now is an exemplary country that implemented a number of reforms and unblocked its Euro-Atlantic path, which was crowned by full NATO membership. 

Zoran Zaev’s integration parading and strong international engagement led to the signing of the Agreement on Good Neighborly Relations with Bulgaria, a law was passed to improve the use of the languages of other ethnic communities. The Prespa Agreement with Greece was signed and implemented. This resulted in enabling the unblocking of Euro-Atlantic integration processes.

Project will lay down foundations for a participatory approach to drafting of a new NGO Strategy for 2021-2023. Also, the project will contribute the realization of the arrangement to implement the Joint Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism for the Western Balkans that Montenegro and the EU signed In November 2019. In addition, the project will incorporate the achievement of The Strategy for the Suppression of Violent Extremism, adopted in February 2020, including the Law on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing that was amended in December 2019.

According to the last held census (in 2011), Montenegro had population of 620 145 inhabitants.

When the word is on the fight against corruption, Montenegro has done some progress and level of preparation within EU membership regarding this topic, especially in terms of track records on repression and prevention of corruption. Similarly, Montenegro authorities worked moderately in the fight against organized crime by addressing 2020 EU recommendations, in particular in improving access to law-enforcement agencies to key databases and increasing the number of investigators and experts in key areas.  Furthermore, EU noted that the track record on seizure and confiscation of assets and final court decisions in corruption cases needs to be further improved, with need to review the legal framework in the area of prevention of corruption to address the issues identified through its application as well as to improve track records on repression and prevention of corruption. Furthermore, gender-based violence, in particular domestic violence, unfortunately remains a serious and persistent criminal, societal and public health issue. Only in 2020, 265 cases of domestic violence were registered as criminal offences and further, 2 133 by the misdemeanor courts, as reported by the EU. 

As for migrations, the arrival of irregular migrants fell by 60% in comparison to 2019, with 3149 migrants apprehended in 2020, according to the EU Report. Despite the Montenegro’s capacity to manage mixed migration flows, still sustained efforts are needed to cope with migratory pressures.

Results from 2020 Parliamentary elections included change of the ruling coalition, transforming dynamics between the executive and legislative powers with emphasis on the questions of religious communities and ethnicity that per se dominated the political agenda in Montenegro during 2021. In December the same year, by election of the 42^nd Government of Montenegro, number of ministries was reduced substantially, composing government mostly of non-politically affiliated experts. By establishment of Government, Parliament established also new Committee for a comprehensive electoral reform, whose mandate is to propose legislative reforms by the end of 2021 and three civil society organizations were invited to participate. Montenegro is on its path towards the EU membership, which is why EU defined seven key recommendations for this state. Those include defining the purpose of and establishment of minimum requirements for all medium-term government planning documents; publish mentioned documents on the Government website in order to achieve greater transparency; to develop a coherent medium-term budgetary framework with clear links between government policy and resources; defining and establishment of rules requiring more specific analysis and reporting to the level of the implementation of key laws in Montenegro; strengthening internal capacities of the GSG to review the content of draft government policies for coherence with previous commitments and priorities; organization of existing MoF resources to better monitor sector policies and scrutinize fiscal impact estimations of new policy proposals; and to further develop the Programme of Accession of Montenegro to include more specific prioritization of actions at the level of Government.

As for civil society in Montenegro, its role is recognized and promoted even though the current legal as well as institutional framework have to be further improved in order to strengthen the consultation and cooperation mechanisms between state institutions and organizations of civil society, especially in terms on EU integration. Montenegro authorities did not adopt law on volunteering that could promote and regulate volunteer work in CSOs and increase its human resources. Strategy for improving the environment for NGOs has expired since its timeframe was 2018 – 2020 and hence it needs to be replaced by new one. In 2020, most of the ministries appointed CSO members to the working group for drafting laws and State strategies in their respective areas but even then, not all ministries conducted public consultations while drafting laws Although having legal funding rules that are in place, not all government ministries have launched calls with whom it would award grants to CSOs. Furthermore, the Council for Cooperation of State Administration Bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations is a body consisting of an equal number of state officials and CSO representatives and until suspension due to the change of government in 2020, it held three meetings. It is important mentioning that rules for public funding of CSOs in Montenegro provide for a minimum of 0.5% of the state budget to be allocated to civil society, with 4.6 million EUR to be reallocated for 2021.

Relevant strategies:

National Strategy for Sustainable development until 2030

Strategy for development of nongovernmental organizations 2014 – 2016

Strategy of cooperation of the Government of Montenegro and non-governmental organizations

Relevant institutions for reporting on the mentioned issues and topics: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, United Nations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Montenegro, Ministry of public administration, digital society and media – Directorate for cooperation with NGO, The EU-Montenegro Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC)

Project will directly contribute to addressing the European Commission’s Opinion on ensuring an enabling environment for civil society. In addition, the project will support the achievement of the set-out objectives in the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 2018-2023 foreign policy strategy which include: full membership in the EU, activation of the NATO Membership Action Plan, fight against terrorism, cooperation at regional level, and bilateral and multilateral cooperation. During the project period, the country will adopt the Strategy for development of civil society and follow-up Strategy and a framework action plan for the prevention of and fight against terrorism that the project will directly contribute to. Last strategy for the fight against corruption for Bosnia and Herzegovina is the one with timeframe 2015 – 2019 and new one needs to be created. In addition, the project will comply to the 2018-2022 Gender action plan, as well as an action plan on women, peace, and security.  

According to the latest census, 3.351.159 inhabitants are living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, out of which 2.219.220 are living in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (around 62,85%), 1.228.423 are living in the Republic of Srpska (around 34,79%) and in District Brcko, 83.516 inhabitants (2,37%).

Ongoing political and security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is complicated and filled with challenges, backed up with the separation-oriented rhetoric from political representatives where consequences of such non-participation in the State-level decision-making processes are serious. This issue leads to the political crisis, caused by the anti-Dayton behavior of mentioned politicians that is causing fear among citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as division and separation of this country. Another ongoing security issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina are corruption and organized crime. Especially during the pandemic caused by the SARS CoV virus, negative sides of corruption were widely spread across the country which resulted in degradation of citizens’ wellbeing. Additionally, there is still presence of non-transparent prosecution of a corruption case which raises additional security questions. According to the 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked as a third worst in Europe with a score of 35, where scale was from 0 to 100, which means that Bosnia and Herzegovina was 110^th out of 180 countries, in terms of corruption. In the region of Western Balkans, according to the CPI, BiH and Albania are the worst rated countries while Kosovo and Northern Macedonia have made some progress. Authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still unable to establish unique and sustainable migration and asylum system, as it could be seen in December 2020 crisis. Even though some improvements of migration management are visible, there is still an enormous lack of effective coordination on all levels which could be achieved through fair distribution of responsibilities between government levels. Furthermore, it is important to mention the ongoing issue related to the Electoral Law BiH where BiH authorities are still unable to implement all decisions from the European Court of Human Rights which leads to direct electoral discrimination and unequal opportunities for political participation.

Actions by the BH entity Republika Srpska to unilaterally establish a parallel institution in BiH are slowing down process of the BiH’s integration towards the EU, meaning that those moves harm state’s prospects of advancing to this integration path. In the reports for 2020 and 2021, the European Commission noted that there are still missing concrete actions of political commitment of the state authorities on all levels of government regarding strategic goals of the European integration. The biggest brake in this process is based upon the fact that there is divisive rhetoric and actions in the most recent political crisis, triggered by the above-mentioned actions from the RS leadership. However, some certain steps have been made for achievement of 14 key priorities such as revised National War Crimes Strategy (adopted in September 2020) as well as Mostar local elections, also held in 2020, for the first time since 2008 which is part of the first key priority. Nonetheless, Bosnia and Herzegovina are still at an early stage, i.e. it achieved some level of preparation within obligations of the EU membership, but it still requires additional progress and general pace of reforms to create a sustainable progress on the Euro Atlantic path. Speaking of 14 key priorities, it is important to mention that they are divided into groups: Democracy/Functionality, Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights and Public Administration Reform. Priorities include elections that have to be conducted in line with European standards, adoption for the EU acquis, functioning of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee, improvement of the institutional framework, improvement of the functioning of the judiciary, strengthening the prevention and fight against corruption and organized crime, ensuring effective coordination regarding migrations, protection of the rights of all citizens including right to life and prohibition of torture, enabling environment for civil society, guarantee freedom of expression and of the media, protection and inclusion of vulnerable groups as well as to complete essential steps in public administration reform. For this project, the most important are the following priorities: 7. Strengthen the prevention and fight against corruption and organized crime, including money laundering and terrorism; 9. Strengthen the protection of the rights of all citizens, notably by ensuring the implementation of the legislation on non-discrimination and on gender equality; 11. Ensure an enabling environment for civil society, notably by upholding European standards of freedom of association and freedom of assembly.

Civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as perceived by international community as well, is a crucial component for BiH and its democratic system, due to which it must be recognized and treated as of high importance by public and state institutions. Civil society in BiH is a key partner for reform improvements since there are 27 432 registered associations and foundations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As for CS in BiH, the European union’s opinion is that it has all characteristics of CS in a transition country, with majority of sports associations and associations whose main objective is to represent the interest of specific societal groups. Councils of ministers BiH signed an Agreement on Cooperation between CoM and civil society organizations in BiH, on 30.11.2017. Aim of this Agreement is to develop fair, open, plural, and democratic society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, besides commitment for cooperation regarding fulfilling conditions for membership in the European Union. Within mentioned Agreement, an Advisory Body of the CoM BiH has been established as one of the most key features

Audit Office of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted a revision in 2019 regarding capabilities of BiH institutions to answer on the obligations within Sustainable development program until 2030. They revised work of Council of Ministers BiH, BiH Directorate for economic planning, ministries on the level of BiH institutions as activities by Agency for statistics BiH where they came to conclusions that a) Bosnia and Herzegovina did not ensure basic assumptions for implementation of obligations from Sustainable development program until 2030; b) creation of strategic and institutional framework, as one of main assumptions for implementation of SDG is yet to come and c) system of regular reporting and follow up of CDG implementation is not established yet. Due to the mentioned, Audit Office suggested Council of Ministers to adopt strategic framework for implementation of the SDG; to conduct detailed overview of all planned documents of CoE BiH with aim of incorporating SDG in it; to establish functional institutional framework for conduction of SDG as well as to establish a system for reporting and monitoring of the SDG realization progress. It was advised by the Audit Office BiH to the Parliamentary Assembly BiH to ensure needed support for achieving SDG while Agency for statistics BiH was advised to identify real needs coming from Agenda 2030 obligations. Additionally, Direction for economic planning BiH was advised to improve promotion of SDG through more active cooperation with the process participants.

Strategies:

• Program of reforms Bosnia and Herzegovina 2021, Commission for cooperation with NATO, Council of Ministers BiH
• Gender Action Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2018 – 2022
• Corruption Perception Index, Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina
• The Foreign Policy Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018 – 2023
• Bosnia and Herzegovina National Action Plan (NAP) for the period 2018 – 2022
• Sustainable Development Goals Framework in BiH
• BIH Strategy For Prevention and Fight Against Terrorism by 2026 Adopted

Relevant institutions for reporting on above mentioned issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina are Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Office of the High Representative, Delegation of  the European Union to BiH and European Union Special Representative in BiH, Transparency International, United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Council of Ministers Bosnia and Herzegovina – Directorate for economic planning; Council of Ministers Bosnia and Herzegovina – Advisory Body for cooperation with the NGOs, Audit Office of the Institutions of BiH, Ministry of Foreign Affairs BiH, Ministry of Defense BiH, Ministry of Security BiH as well as relevant entity ministries.