Institute for Democracy (IDSCS) supported by the Open Society Foundation (OSF) Western Balkans, organized an advocacy visit to Sarajevo and Belgrade from 27 February to 1 March 2024, as part of the project Berlin Process after Tirana 2023? Redefining the role of civil society. The efforts under this project are based on the conclusions from the workshop in Skopje organized as a follow-up event of the 2024 civil society forum organized as part of the Berlin Process Summit in Tirana.
The aim of this visit was to seek ways how to advance the role of civil society organizations within the Berlin Process and means to amplify their impact.
For this matter, in Sarajevo, Zoran Nechev, Anamarija Velinovska and Ana Sofeska, representatives from IDSCS accompanied by Klodjan Seferaj, Program Manager at OSF, engaged in discussions with representatives from the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), namely Sinisa Marcic, Senior expert on Human Capital Development and Monika Petrova, Expert on Human Capital Development. The RCC’s tentative timeline with initial activities for the Common Regional Market Action Plan 2.0 was discussed in details. Besides RCC, talks have been conducted with civil sector representatives from the Sarajevo Open Centre, Emina Bošnjak, Executive Director and Darko Pandurević, Advocacy and Programme Manager, as well as Lejla Bicakcic, Director at the Center for Investigative Reporting. The main topics of discussion revolved around the capacities and willingness of the civil society community in the Western Balkans, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to contribute to the specific themes outlined in the Berlin Process.
In Belgrade, IDSCS representatives, met with Dragana Djurica, Secretary General of European Movement in Serbia, to emphasize the importance of institutionalized and structured collaboration between civil society and regional organizations. The OSF Deputy Director, Miodrag Milosavljevic, joined the IDSCS team for a meeting with representatives from the Transport Community, including Tatjana Jovanovic Stiglic, Head of Division in charge of Project Preparation and Financing, Albert Kolgeci, Head of Division in charge of Transportation and Implementation of the EU acquis and Martina Hakl, Desk officer for Social and Environmental Issues, to explore how civil society can contribute to the preparatory work for the 2024 Berlin Process Summit. Additionally, the researchers together with Tamara Brankovic, Deputy Program Director at CRTA, had the opportunity to discuss the involvement of national parliaments in the Berlin Process.
The project Berlin Process after Tirana 2023? Redefining the role of civil society is supported by the Open Society Foundation Western Balkans and implemented by the Institute for Democracy (IDSCS).
