The members of the Council for the creation of an encouraging environment for the development of civil society, from the ranks of civil society organizations (CSOs), inform the public that they have unanimously decided not to participate in the work and attend the meetings of the Council in the coming period. Membership in this body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia will be frozen until the circumstances that led to endangering the activities of civil society in the Republic of Serbia and violations of domestic and international regulations and planning documents in this area are determined and eliminated.
This decision was made in light of a number of incidents that indicate the deterioration of the position of civil society, including:
- “Smear” campaigns directed against CSOs, which have been going on for a long time.
- Lack of reaction of representatives of state administration bodies in the Council to alarming reports about pressure, intimidation and attacks on human rights defenders, female activists and female students.
- The recent incident of the arrest and expulsion of the participants of the Erste Academy for Non-Governmental Organizations organized by the Erste Foundation from Vienna, who were banned from entering Serbia for a year, without adequate explanation.
We believe that the basic rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression have been violated by these actions of the competent authorities, which represents a direct threat to the work of civil society in the Republic of Serbia.
The Council for Creating a Stimulating Environment for the Development of Civil Society was established as a mechanism for dialogue and cooperation between CSOs and state authorities. Its role is to monitor and analyze the situation in the most important areas of civil society activity, as well as to represent the interests of citizens through involvement in decision-making processes. Unfortunately, the absence of concrete measures and reactions of state authorities to the current situation makes it impossible to realize these goals.
We expect an urgent and adequate reaction from the relevant Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, in accordance with their competences, in order to create the conditions for the continuation of the work of the Council.
Signatories:
Aleksandar Prica, DUGA Association;
Vladimir M. Pavlović, Belgrade Open School;
Miroljub Nikolić, Caritas Šabac;
Gordana Adamov, Youth Umbrella Organization of Serbia (KOMS);
Nataša Vučković, Center for Democracy Foundation;
Marija Mitrović, Trag Foundation;
Saša Stefanović, Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia MODS;
Milan Krilović, European Youth Center of Vojvodina;
Dragoslava Barzut, Association of Citizens for Democracy and Civic Education “Citizen Initiatives”;
Dragan Đorđević, Committee for Human Rights Niš;
Bojana Džulović, Belgrade Open School;
Andrijana Nikolić, Caritas Šabac;
Milica Borjanić, Youth Umbrella Organization of Serbia (KOMS);
Miloš Đajić, Center for Modern Skills;
Željko Mitkovski, Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation;
Iva Eraković, Friends of the Children of Serbia;
Edit Vereš, Union of Associations “Novi Sad Youth Forum”;
Slaviša Kovač, DUGA Association;
Ivana Teofilović, Association of Citizens for Democracy and Civic Education “Citizen Initiatives”;
Maja Kamenov, Committee for Human Rights Nis;
Milena Mihajlović, Center for European Policies.