East and Southeast Europe
The Regional Office FNF ESEE covers 23 countries in East and Southeast Europe. The Regional Office in Sofia coordinates the following Project Offices in the region: Bulgaria and North Macedonia, Greece, Romania and Moldova, Western Balkans, Russia and Central Asia, Ukraine and Belarus, South Caucasus and Turkey.
News
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How does Climate Change Reshape Security Policy?
In cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Economic Policy Institute - Sofia has produced a policy paper that focuses on the, so far rather neglected nexus, between climate change and security policy using the example of the region Southeast Europe. The findings indicate that there has to be a fundamental change of the very essence of how armed forces operate.
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Upcoming Greek elections: What to expect?
On Sunday, the Greeks will elect their new parliament. However, the electoral system makes it difficult to form a government with a majority. The "Greek bonus" used to reward the party with the most votes with 50 extra seats in parliament, which made coalition building superfluous. However, the sovereign debt crisis led to change, new parties emerged and coalition governments became necessary. Prime Minister Mitsotakis, however, is a politician who does not like to share power. After his election, he reintroduced the old system. If no government can be formed after Sunday's election, the old system would be used in a repeat election a few weeks later.
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Kivi Leroux Miller´s Insights on Marketing Strategies and Goal Setting
Don't miss a dose of inspiration from the last “The Liberal Communications Network”. Kivi Leroux Miller shares her insights on developing an effective mission-driven marketing strategy and goal-setting.
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Liberal Communicators Network (LCN): Non-Profit Academy 2023
The LCN-Non-Profit Academy will empower liberal communicators to adapt cutting-edge communication strategies, innovation, and marketing trends for he specific context of the mission-driven sector. By innovating non-profit communications, liberals will be better equipped to win the hearts and minds, influence shifts in values and behaviour. Join the Academy to become a member of this European network of marketing professionals in international development.
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Farra Trompeter on the Importance of Strategic Brandraising
Farra Trompeter elaborates on the importance of strategic brandraising. In today's highly competitive business landscape, organizations must take a holistic approach to create a strong brand that speaks to their target audience. A brand is not simply a logo or a tagline, but rather the sum total of what audiences hear, see, feel, and experience when they connect with your organization. As such, a strong brand is essential for building an audience, establishing trust, and ultimately driving donations.
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Reshape Europe Conference: ‘Building Resilience, Ensuring Stability, Harnessing Welfare’
The International Security Forum ‘Building Resilience, Ensuring Stability, Harnessing Welfare’ focused on Ukraine's resistance to Russian aggression, military and security challenges in Eastern Europe, potential assistance to Moldova in the joint effort to resist Russian aggression in Ukraine, building economic and institutional resilience and building energy security in Eastern Europe. The Reshape Europe Conference was organised by FNF and IDIS Viitorul.
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Rory Sutherland on Behavior Science and Creativity
Don't miss a dose of inspiration from the last “The Liberal Communications Network”. Get an insight into the Marketing Strategies of non-profits with Rory Sutherland´s top 5 theories on behavior science and creativity.
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Freedom Team Interview: Katharina Steegmans in Focus
Meet our intern Katharina Steegmans, a Berlin native with a passion for exploring the world.
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Change in Montenegro: Long-term president voted out of office
The newcomer Jakov Milatović, only 36 years old, beats Milo Djukanović, the "permanent president" of Montenegro who had dominated for decades, with an outstanding result. Six weeks earlier, his victory was still considered almost impossible. Since Djukanović dissolved parliament shortly before the presidential election, the future course of the country will only become clear after the parliamentary election on 11 June and the formation of a new government.
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Miracles happen all the time
According to official figures, the devastating earthquake in south-eastern Turkey on 6 February killed almost 50,000 people and destroyed entire regions. But in addition to all the damage and suffering caused by the earthquake, there were also many miracles - such as the rescue of numerous people from the ruins even after almost 300 hours after the earthquake. Another miracle concerns the rapprochement between the eternal enemies Greece and Turkey.
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FNF Connects - One Month in Istanbul
Greta Kiss from the Brussels office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom worked in Istanbul for five weeks as part of the "One Foundation Worldwide" programme and gained insights into the work of the team on the ground and the challenges facing Turkey, an indispensable but very challenging partner of the EU. The country was mourning thousands of losses in the earthquake of the century, and all eyes turned to the region in Southeastern Turkey. This, of course, has had a significant impact on Turkish society and also on the staff and local partners of FNF’s Istanbul office.
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Prisoner of Conscience: Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russia
“Regime of murderers”, is the description Vladimir Kara-Murza gave in an interview for CNN Putin’s rule. After an attempted assassination, being investigated for high treason and labeled a “foreign agent”, the Russian political activist, historian, and journalist got arrested for “spreading false information about the invasion of Ukraine”. Discover the story of Vladimir Kara-Murza, prisoner of conscience from Russia.
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Prisoner of Conscience: Alexandra Skochilenko
“The Russian army has bombed the art school in Mariupol. 400 people were sheltering there during the bombing.”, was one of Alexandra Skochilenko anti-war slogans, put onto price tags in a supermarket to counter the misinformation spread by the Kremlin. Discover the story of Alexandra Skochilenko, a prisoner of conscience from Russia.
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Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action
After the successful premiere in Sofia, the documentary portrait of Denitsa Lyubenova is storming the international film festivals. Starting on a national basis at the Sofia Pride Film Fest in Bulgaria, the documentary makes its way over the neighboring country North Macedonia all the way to Berlin, Germany and London, the UK. "Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action' tells the story of the human rights lawyer and activist Denitsa Lyubenova of the LGBTI organization Deystvie.
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Long road to new government – Liberals in it for the first time
On 2 October 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina held its ninth regular parliamentary and presidential elections amidst brewing crises, both domestic and international. The liberal party “Naša stranka” is poised to be the part of the new governing coalition. Despite some successes of progressive parties, the ethnic nationalist and conservative parties continue to dominate. All of this will make for a challenging environment in which liberals will have to manoeuvre, seeking to affirm the principles and values around which the party was built.
Social Media
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🎬 We are excited to invite you to the Premiere of FNF’s flagship documentary portrait ‘Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action’ 👉 this Sunday, 4 June, Cinema Odeon in Sofia, Bulgaria from 19.00 👉 https://bit.ly/3WK7GZk 🏳️🌈 The film is about Denitsa Lyubenova, a human rights lawyer from Bulgaria and activist from the LGBTI organization Deystvie . The documentary portrait has been awarded and featured in 8 film festivals from Germany, UK, Poland, North Macedonia, Bulgaria. Stay tuned for more soon. 👏 Think Freedom will be part of the official opening of Sofia Pride Film Fest together with another film ‘Lotus’ about a trans teenager from Cambodia. The 2 films will be in English and Bulgarian. 🎬 Think Freedom shows the process behind and the emotional journey of one of the most prominent legal battles. The case for the parentage of baby SARA from her two mothers marks a historic victory and milestone for Denitsa and the LGBT organization Deystvie. The decision set a precedent for authorities on the European level to recognize the rights of children with same-sex parents and for the rights of LGBTI people to a family and private life. Six months after the positive judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the Administrative Court of Sofia ruled that Bulgaria must issue a birth certificate stating both mothers. On the last possible day, the authorities appealed the ruling. After one more year, Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court overturned the ruling, blatantly disregarding the decision of ECJ. Baby Sara has been stateless for more than 3.5 years. The new legal battles that Denitsa and Sara’s family are facing to the Supreme Court ruling may take 5 to 10 years. 🎞️The film is part of the #ThinkFreedom series of FNF, featuring documentary portraits of inspiring and free-minded people from East Europe. 🎬 Directed by: Anna Stoeva 🎬 Director of Photography: Ivan Nikolov 🎬 Produced by: tanuki films, David Djambazov, Anna Stoeva . #fnfesee #thinkfreedom
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🎬 We are excited to invite you to the Premiere of FNF’s flagship documentary portrait ‘Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action’ 👉 this Sunday, 4 June, Cinema Odeon in Sofia, Bulgaria from 19.00 👉 https://bit.ly/3WK7GZk 🏳️🌈 The film is about Denitsa Lyubenova, a human rights lawyer from Bulgaria and activist from the LGBTI organization Deystvie. The documentary portrait has been awarded and featured in 8 film festivals from Germany, UK, Poland, North Macedonia, Bulgaria. Stay tuned for more soon. 👏 Think Freedom will be part of the official opening of @/SofiaPrideFilmFest together with another film ‘Lotus’ about a trans teenager from Cambodia. The 2 films will be in English and Bulgarian. 🎬 Think Freedom shows the process behind and the emotional journey of one of the most prominent legal battles. The case for the parentage of baby SARA from her two mothers marks a historic victory and milestone for Denitsa and the LGBT organization Deystvie. The decision set a precedent for authorities on the European level to recognize the rights of children with same-sex parents and for the rights of LGBTI people to a family and private life. Six months after the positive judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the Administrative Court of Sofia ruled that Bulgaria must issue a birth certificate stating both mothers. On the last possible day, the authorities appealed the ruling. After one more year, Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court overturned the ruling, blatantly disregarding the decision of ECJ. Baby Sara has been stateless for more than 3.5 years. The new legal battles that Denitsa and Sara’s family are facing to the Supreme Court ruling may take 5 to 10 years. 🎞️The film is part of the #ThinkFreedom series of FNF, featuring documentary portraits of inspiring and free-minded people from East Europe. 🎬 Directed by: Anna Stoeva 🎬 Director of Photography: Ivan Nikolov 🎬 Produced by: tanuki films, David Djambazov, Anna Stoeva . #fnfesee #thinkfreedom
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🎬 We are excited to invite you to the Premiere of FNF’s flagship documentary portrait ‘Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action’ 👉 this Sunday, 4 June, Cinema Odeon in Sofia, Bulgaria from 19.00 👉 https://bit.ly/3WK7GZk 🏳️🌈 The film is about Denitsa Lyubenova, a human rights lawyer from Bulgaria and activist from the LGBTI organization Deystvie . The documentary portrait has been awarded and featured in 8 film festivals from Germany, UK, Poland, North Macedonia, Bulgaria. Stay tuned for more soon. 👏 Think Freedom will be part of the official opening of Sofia Pride Film Fest together with another film ‘Lotus’ about a trans teenager from Cambodia. The 2 films will be in English and Bulgarian. 🎬 Think Freedom shows the process behind and the emotional journey of one of the most prominent legal battles. The case for the parentage of baby SARA from her two mothers marks a historic victory and milestone for Denitsa and the LGBT organization Deystvie. The decision set a precedent for authorities on European level to recognize the rights of children with same-sex parents and for the rights of LGBTI people to a family and private life. Six months after the positive judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the Administrative Court of Sofia ruled that Bulgaria must issue a birth certificate stating both mothers. On the last possible day, the authorities appealed the ruling. After one more year, Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court overturned the ruling, blatantly disregarding the decision of ECJ. Baby Sara has been stateless for more than 3.5 years. The new legal battles that Denitsa and Sara’s family are facing to the Supreme Court ruling may take 5 to 10 years. 🎞️The film is part of the #ThinkFreedom series of FNF, featuring documentary portraits of inspiring and free-minded people from East Europe. 👏 Our gratitude goes to: 🎬 Directed by: Anna Stoeva 🎬 Director of Photography: Ivan Nikolov 🎬 Produced by: tanuki films, David Djambazov, Anna Stoeva . #fnfesee #thinkfreedom #tanukifilms
