Participants of ERSTE Foundation NGO Academy interrogated by authorities in Belgrade
Participants attending a capacity building workshop of the NGO Academy in Belgrade were interrogated by the Serbian authorities and then banned from Serbia as a “security risk” on 21 January.
From 20-21 January 2025, the NGO Academy held a capacity building workshop on “Earned Income Strategies for Purpose-driven Organisations” in Belgrade that saw 22 people from 12 different countries take part. The capacity-building programme has been running peacefully since 2013, however on the evening of 21 January several participants of the workshop were brought to a police station, questioned by authorities, and subsequently banned from the country.
The ERSTE Foundation, a partner of the NGO Academy, informed us 13 participants from 8 countries were treated this way. Neither the team of the foundation nor the other partner, the Vienna University of Economics and Business were informed why this happened. On 23 January, the Austrian Embassy in Serbia protested against the treatment of the participants of the event and their subsequent expulsion.
Philea is deeply concerned about these developments and joins more than 400 civil society organisations condemning the incident and urging the Serbian authorities to provide a transparent explanation for these actions against civil society organisation (CSO) staff and to ensure that such treatment does not occur again. The European Commission and Members of the European Parliament were also informed about the developments.
As Philea we are committed to promote an enabling space for civil society and philanthropy in Europe. Civil Society is a cornerstone of our pluralistic, democratic and fundamental rights and rule of law-based societies.
We are deeply worried about the concrete incidents around the NGO Academy participants in Serbia, and more broadly about the closing of civil society space in different parts of Europe, be it through the introduction of restrictive laws, policies or interrogations by supervisory authorities or the police or other means.
The incidents of 21 January should once again be a wake-up call for all of us that we cannot take civic space for granted.
Contact
