Publications

Social policy has always been one of the most important topics for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung due to the fact that the capitalist market economy always tends towards social exclusion and needs to be regulated by strong social correctives. The past two decades have brought painful experiences to South-Eastern European societies following the end of socialism, during which time socio-economic inequality and poverty has increased dramatically through the introduction of the capitalist market economy.

The history of the European Union is sustained by the fascinating idea of peace and freedom in a united continent. In 2012 the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which was both recognition and a challenge. However, it is also true that these days one often hears the EU mentioned in connection with the word "crisis" . When the unregulated financial markets collapsed in 2008 the lending banks were bailed out by the state.

The Media Barometers facilitated by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) are self-assessment instruments to gauge the status of freedom of expression and of the media in a national context. Such assessments have been undertaken in various countries in Africa since 2004 and in Asia from 2009. In September 2011, the Balkan Media Barometer (BMB) was initiated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a pilot project for Southeast Europe and the rest of the continent. In 2014, the second Balkan Media Barometer was developed for BiH, given that the original plan – as envisaged in the basic concept – was to repeat this panel discussion every two to three years. The same was done in other parts of the world so that development of the situation could be observed…

This book is a sociological portrait of young people in present-day Bulgaria – twenty-five years after the beginning of the Change and seven years after the country’s accession to the European Union. The path passed since 1989 is the result of the aspirations and efforts of several generations. Although social reality does not match the bravest expectations of the first postcommunist generation or the requirements of today’s youth, it has created a qualitatively new environment for young people making their life choices. At the crossroads to adulthood, Bulgarian youth feel free to choose from a much wider array of opportunities than their parents and grandparents, even though today the risks to youth transitions are much greater too.

This study focuses on a socio-demographic category which is crucial to any country’s future: youths. Public or private speeches on youths are both enthusiastic and passionate (i.e., “youths are our future!”, “it is youths who started the Revolution!” etc.), and less flattering (i.e., “youths nowadays are good for nothing!”, “youths were different back in the day [better, more hardworking, more diligent...]”, “generation gap”, etc.). Politicians often tend to remember youths especially during election campaigns. During the most recent elections for the European Parliament and the presidential elections in Romania we could see that politicians stopped pretending to be interested in youths, thinking that since youths donot usually come to…

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is committed to the goals of social democracy and the ideals of the labour movement. The 150th anniversary of the SPD on 23 May 2013 provides the occasion for the Academy for Social Democracy to look back on the history of social democracy in the Social Democracy Readers series. This is the first English-language edition of this Reader. It is offered as a helping hand for political decision-makers and opinion formers in the more than 100 countries in which the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung promotes democracy and development, and contributes to peace and security.

Currently, it is difficult to understand and to assess the progress made in regional cooperation in South East Europe. The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), launched in 2008 as a successor to the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, focuses on promoting and enhancing regional cooperation in the Western Balkan region. RCC annual reports show that regional cooperation is improving in relation to economic and social development, infrastructure and energy, justice and home affairs, security cooperation, building human capital and other cross-cutting issues (RCC 2011), as well as, more and recently, media cooperation (RCC 2012).

The Balkan Media Barometer (BMB) is an in-depth and comprehensive description and measurement system for national media environments in South East Europe. Unlike other press surveys or media indices the BMB is a self-assessment exercise based on homegrown criteria derived from European standards as developed by the European Union and the Council of Europe. The first pilot Balkan Media Barometer was launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2011, followed by Bulgaria in 2012.