ACTIVITIES

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) warns the public that the Draft Law on Internal Affairs contains numerous provisions that, if left unchanged, will jeopardize citizens' guaranteed rights and security, and despite cosmetic changes, preserve political influence on the police work. Therefore, BCSP asks the Ministry of Interior to consider the comments received from organizations in the public debate and prevent potential damage resulting from the Draft's adoption.

Regarding the frequent official and informal calls on civil society organizations to get involved in the consultation process with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue for drafting The National Strategy for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development in the Republic of Serbia, we remind that the intolerant atmosphere towards civil society, due to which civil society organizations made their decision not to participate in this process in April of this year, has not changed.

How did statements of officials and the official policy of Serbia towards the pandemic influence the reduction of individual freedoms and rights, and the undemocratic behavior of the government was the subject of an online discussion organized by the BCSP on June 15, 2021.

Due to the inaction of institutions and all other problems faced by all those who work by the law and call for accountability of the institutions and officials, the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy has established the Civil committee for the protection of human rights defenders and whistleblowers.

One of the key preconditions for a successful fight against organized crime is the cooperation between governments and civil society organizations. This was a conclusion by the panelists of the online discussion "Boosting Resilience to Organized Crime in the Western Balkans," organized by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) together with regional partners from the Western Balkans Organized Crime Radar (WB OCR).

The key function of informal education is to represent a bridge between the university and the labor market. Informal education is a very important addition to the knowledge acquired at the faculty - it was pointed out during the online event "Informal knowledge for career advancement".

Due to severe threats and calls for violence targeting civil society representatives and journalists by certain MPs from the Serbian Progressive Party, without any sanctions, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) suspends all communication and cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

On the occasion of the open call for physical violence by the Member of the National Assembly, Aleksandar Martinović, civil society organizations gathered in National Convention on the European Union working groups for Chapters 23 and 24 and cross-sectoral groups for political criteria and freedom of expression and the media demand a reaction from the President of the National Assembly from the position of Chairman of the Committee on Administrative, Budgetary, Mandate and Immunity Issues.

Paris should take a brave approach and involvement in helping reforms on the ground in the Western Balkans instead of maintaining the status quo and further losing its credibility in the region – it was concluded during the online event “France and the Western Balkans’ EU membership”, organized by BCSP on Friday, March 5th .