Western Balkans
For three decades (1992), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation has been active for freedom in the Western Balkans and supports the countries on their way to a united Europe. From her project office in Belgrade she coordinates her political education work and advice in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo. Together with her partners from politics, science and civil society, she works primarily on the topics of human and civil rights, digital and open society, democracy and the rule of law as well as communicating political strategies and market-economy structures.
News
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Final Report on Media Monitoring Serbia - Study confirms Serbian media bias in favour of President Vučić
The project focusses on a detailed analysis and assessment of election-related media coverage and the (equal) representation of election candidates in the media, including the identification of possible cases of political bias and violations of standards of truthful objective reporting. One of the main results of this project is that a brief flicker of supposed *media pluralism” was rather artificial and due to the awareness of international observation. I
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EuroPride 2022 - the complicated birth of the first EuroPride in South Eastern Europe
Belgrade hosted EuroPride this weekend, an international event dedicated to the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community. Despite strong opposition from the ultra-right, but also from the Serbian Orthodox Church and parts of the government, the final rally took place in the centre of the Serbian capital on Saturday.
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Regular Economic Report for the first half of 2022
The economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina entered the year 2022 with a series of uncertainties, but also with optimistic expectations that the COVID-19 pandemic has finally passed and that the normalization of economic activities will continue. "There is no more time to lose: 2022 must be the year of social and economic recovery in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is the author's text of the resident coordinator of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Serbia: Gays and lesbians “temporarily” declared personae non-gratae
Europride begins today in Serbia. Although thousands of protesters have once again taken to the streets in Belgrade against the large-scale event and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had previously announced the cancellation of the Pride event, the international pressure was too great. In the conservative world view of the Serbian president, same-sex partnerships and alternative life plans have no place. LGBTIQ activist Stefan Šparavalo talks about equal rights and social participation in Europe.
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Rainbow Families in Croatia
Two years ago, political scientist Nikolina Herceg Kolman presented an exciting and interesting analysis of how respect for LGBT* rights became a “key issue” and even a “litmus test for being European” in Croatia, which began accession negotiations with the EU in the early 2000s.
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New Head for the Foundation in the Western Balkans
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Belgrade has a new director for its activities in the Western Balkans. In mid-August, Markus Kaiser took over from his predecessor Michael Roick, who is leaving the region after three years. The 42-year-old, who is now in charge of the Foundation’s work in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo, previously worked as Head of Unit for Europe at the Foundation's headquarters in Potsdam.
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Reading recommendations from the Western Balkans
Vacation time is often also reading time. In recent years, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation Western Balkans has produced a wealth of publications on the region as well as on developments in individual countries.
Social Media
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The 6th Smart City Festival - Smart Reshape was a unique experience! SCF22 brought together various stakeholders who showed how the Western Balkans could help #ReshapeEurope through innovation, sustainability and smart cities. Here is a short impression of the delightful atmosphere of SmartCity.Education Initiative. #ReshapeEurope #smartcities #innovation #sustainability #health #SCF22 #europe #security #progress #EuropeanUnion #belgreade
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Reshaping European Innovation, sustainability and health were some of the leading themes of the 6th Smart City Festival. Carrying the motto “SMART RESHAPE”, the annual highlight of the SmartCity.Education Initiative was organized in cooperation with Data Science Conference, Health Tech Lab, and Privredna komora Srbije on November 17th at Crown Plaza Belgrade. Two stages were packed with representatives of institutions, businesses and academia. We are particularly proud of the many students attending the festival and grateful for the support of their faculties. #SCF22 was opened by Judith Pirscher, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Master of Ceremony was Milan Šarić from Euronews Serbia. If you have missed the festival, you won`t miss out. The recordings of the panels of the main stage will be available online, soon. #ReshapeEurope #sutainability #WesternBalkans #freedom #innovation #EU #Europe
