📌 CSOs are crucial partners in ensuring democratic reforms and accountability.
📌 Enlargement must remain merit-based, values-driven, and transparent.
📌 Stronger EU engagement is needed to protect civic freedoms in accession countries.

🔗 Read more: shorturl.at/UcPSK
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In a joint statement, CSOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina warn that these laws undermine independent work and could lead to limitations on fundamental rights.
🔗 Read more: shorturl.at/N8L08
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🗣 Taulant Hoxha, KCSF & BCSDN Chair:
"The EU must not lose its leverage as a democratic force. A united European civic space starts long before accession—it must include enlargement countries now."
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Biljana Spasovska, BCSDN Executive Director:
"If accession is to be a real opportunity for transformation, it must include clear, enforceable mechanisms that protect civic space and ensure the inclusion of all citizens."
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Nikola Burazer, European Western Balkans:
"Superficial reforms keep getting rewarded while backsliding goes unchecked. How does a country drift into autocracy inside the EU accession process?"
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Gordan Bosanac, MEP (Greens/EFA):
"Civic space in Serbia is under serious threat. We must acknowledge the growing global divide and ensure civil society remains at the forefront of defending democracy."
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#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans

🗣 Valentina Superti, European Commission:
"We are witnessing a global divide—not just over resources, but values. Civil society is a key partner in defending democracy in this shifting landscape."🧵2/6
#EUEnlargement #CivicSpace #DemocracyMatters #WesternBalkans