Western Balkans Civil Society Forum Belgrade and Novi Sad

During two working days, the event was comprised of a wide range of panel discussions, workshops and two public events in Novi Sad and Belgrade, Serbia. The Forum gathered over 100 participants, coming from a range of CSOs in the Western Balkans, think tank experts, policy institute representatives, high EU officials and MEPs, diplomats, local and regional media. All of them discussing the issues facing civil society participation and the existing mechanisms for furthering dialogue between civil society and the governments within an EU integration process, with the aim to formulate key messages for the Paris Summit. These messages included issues such as youth cooperation, the migration crisis, environment and climate change, as well as bilateral disputes in the region.

The premise of all the findings during the discussions and workshops concluded that civil society has the necessary capacities, expertise and capabilities to contribute to policy making and thus should have a more crucial role in said process, as Civil Society maintains agency in reminding stakeholders of the commonalities transgressing borders.

Civil society plays an important role in building human security, it furthers the democratization in the Western Balkans and has the potential to increase citizens' participation, while focusing on social issues.

It was concluded that support for democratic values should be of utmost importance, as past and present examples have shown that civil society protects democracy and sustains democratization efforts.

The key conclusions and recommendations will by synthesized by the experts of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) and will be made available shortly.