News from CSOs

The ninth wave of measuring the openness of the executive and legislative branches of power in four countries of the Western Balkan region, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, through the Openness Index, has begun. The measurement is carried out by the network “Accountability, Technology and Institutional Openness Network in South East Europe – ACTION SEE” with support of the National Endowment for Democracy – NED “Leveraging technology to promote institutional accountability and transparency.”

The Openness Index is a composite indicator that measures, over the course of eight consecutive years, the degree of openness of state institutions in the Western Balkans to citizens and society. It was developed to assess the extent to which citizens in the region receive relevant and understandable information from these institutions.
To measure the degree of institutional openness, the partners of the ACTION SEE network, in line with international standards, recommendations, and best practices, monitor institutions using specific quantitative and qualitative indicators. These include access to information on official institutional websites, the quality of the legal framework for various issues, alternative public information sources, published data on the operations of institutions, public procurement data, and information on public spending, among others.
Based on the eighth wave of measurements carried out during 2024, the publications Assessment of Good Governance of the Executive Branch in North Macedonia and the Region through the Openness Index according to the Measurement for the Year 2023 and Assessment of Good Governance of the Legislative Branch in North Macedonia and the Region through the Openness Index according to the Measurement for the Year 2023 provide a detailed picture of the openness of individual institutions and include concrete recommendations and steps to improve their transparency.
The project “Leveraging technology to promote institutional accountability and transparency” is implemented by the Center for Democratic Transition (Montenegro) in partnership with the Metamorphosis Foundation for Internet and Society, the Citizens Association Why Not?, and Partners for Democratic Change Serbia (Serbia), with financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy – NED.

The Metamorphosis Foundation participated in the 5th annual “Privacy Week” conference, organized by Partners for Democratic Change (Partners Serbia), held in Belgrade from January 29-31, 2025, under the theme “Privacy for All.”

This year’s conference focused on privacy and data protection, with a particular emphasis on safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable, including activists and journalists.
On January 30, 2025, the central event of “Privacy Week” took place, coinciding with International Data Protection Day. The conference explored the synergy of personal data protection and the fight against discrimination, the protection of digital rights for citizens outside the European Union’s regulatory framework and the so-called Brussels Effect, the protection of medical data in the development of artificial intelligence models, along with several other related topics.

Danche Danilovska-Bajdevska, Program Director at the Metamorphosis Foundation, was the moderator of the panel “Brussels Effect—A View from the Periphery,” which was focused on the impact of European regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on the digital market and human rights in countries outside the EU regulatory framework. Panelists in this session examined the effects of these regulations, with particular attention to the rights protection mechanisms available to citizens and the challenges in applying them outside the EU. The discussion also highlighted successful initiatives to protect digital rights outside the EU, as well as the opportunities and benefits of integrating the Western Balkans into the single digital market.

Boycott. Discontent. High Prices.The region is protesting against rising store prices.
But is the crisis nearing its end, and are these just its final, delayed effects?Has the region significantly impoverished over the past four years?If a new crisis arises, will we be able to handle it?
Our economists from WEBecon Network provide answers to these pressing questions:

Marija Basheska from Finance Think, North Macedonia
Vojin Golubović from ISSP, Montenegro
Lazar Ivanović from Centar za visoke ekonomske studije – CEVES, Serbia
Amela Kurta from CREDI, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tune in to the podcast “Where Is the Money?” with Goran Temenugov on Pari.com.mk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFkYg0UkKJA

The Pleiades Organization invites all interested organizations or individuals in Macedonia to apply for the Carol Bellamy Leadership Award (CBLA) for 2024-2025. This prestigious fund provides financial support to organizations or individuals working to empower women to prevent/fight violent extremism. Who is qualified to receive the CBLA 2025 award? Any…

On 24.01.2025, officially began operating the Green Resource Hub located in the building of the Municipality of Dolneni (village of Ropotovo)!

The goal of the hub is to serve as a central resource for educating and informing the community about sustainable agriculture, energy efficient practices and the use of renewable energy sources.

The hub will be active two days a week, one day for counseling and information and one day for field visits.

With this opening, a series of subsequent activities were announced that will be implemented in cooperation with the Municipality of Dolneni aimed at waste processing, production of organic fertilizer, but also an analysis of the potential of Ropotovo and the surrounding area for setting up capacities for the production of energy from renewable sources.

The work of the hub is supported by the Municipality of Dolneni and Mayor Urim Ibeski, who lent the premises to the Municipal Council free of charge for the needs of the activity.

*The activity is part of the project “Smart Green Village for a Sustainable Future” which is implemented with the support of the Open Society Foundations Western Balkans.

Dear President von der Leyen,Dear Executive Vice-President Ribera,Dear Executive Vice-President Virkkunen,

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, trade unions and businesses, urge you to resistpolitical pressure from Big Tech companies and prioritise bold action to protect our democracyand economy. If the EU wants to uphold its sovereignty it must not pause or weaken theenforcement of its rules.
We have observed with increasing concern how the CEOs of US Big Tech companies have takenturns to ingratiate themselves with the Trump administration in part to mobilise it against EUrules such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), competition policy and the Digital Services Act(DSA).
The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has publicly stated that the company would seek to workwith President Trump to undermine laws in the EU, directly targeting the DSA but alsocompetition policy enforcement. Similarly, Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly petitioned Trumpdirectly to spare him the fines imposed by the EU following a state aid investigation.
We are relieved to hear you remain fully committed to the strict application of the DSA and DMAand to enforcing those rules wherever companies do not comply in full, following press reportsthat suggested the Commission was considering pausing ongoing investigations.
The undersigned organisations re-emphasise in the strongest possible terms that enforcing theDSA, DMA and competition policy is essential for protecting people from the worst abusesonline, for shielding our democracies against foreign interference, for creating opportunities forEuropean innovators, for preserving media pluralism, and limiting the dangerous political andmarket power that Big Tech corporations hold today. We reiterate our support for theCommission services that do the day-to-day enforcement work and we call on you to take bolddecisions based on their assessments.
Yet, this time shows more than ever before that to rein in Big Tech the EU also needs to invest intechnology that enables a more diverse and decentralised digital public sphere.

Pausing enforcement would be to admit defeat in your work to make the digital sphere fair and safe

Big Tech CEOs trying to curry favour with the US administration is no surprise. In fact, Big Techcompanies have achieved their immense market dominance in part by wielding their power toavoid complying with laws such as data protection and competition policy in the past. They haveall heavily lobbied against the EU’s use of competition tools and the DMA since the proposal wasfirst discussed. Apple and Meta also tried to block DMA enforcement with legal actions againstthe Commission questioning their gatekeeper status.
Now Big Tech CEOs are seeking to mobilise the Trump administration to protect their ability toexploit users and businesses dependent on them, including app developers, publishers,advertisers, and others, all while continuing to stifle potential competitors. This exploitation hasnot only created an unfair digital economy; it has directly impacted the dynamism and pluralismof Europe’s economy.
Re-introducing contestability, fairness and choice to the digital market will already be a difficulttask. If we pause or weaken enforcement, we risk making it impossible.

Europe must not be bullied by the likes of Musk and Trump into weakening its DSA and DMAenforcement

At the same time, the actions taken by X and Meta are a stark reminder of how vulnerableEurope is in our dependency on the largest online platforms.
X in particular has been in violation of its obligations under the DSA for some time, as underlinedby the Commission’s own preliminary findings. The way Musk and his oligarch allies use theplatform for anti-democratic political propaganda, lies, and targeted harassment, is a seriousthreat to our democracy and political discourse in Europe. We are deeply worried about thepower they now wield through the algorithmic manipulation machine that underpins X’s socialmedia feeds.
Meta recently announced a major watering down of their content moderation approach acrosstheir platforms. This change abolishes some of the most basic human rights protections,expressly allowing the targeting of marginalised communities and emboldening extremists. Whilethose changes have been announced to apply to US users first, Facebook, Instagram and Threadsare global platforms. US-based, English-language content will inevitably be seen and shared byEEA users as well, and these users are very likely to experience the fallout of this degradation ofcontent moderation. They will rightly ask how the DSA protects them.

Now is the time to double down on EU tech sovereignty

This is not a clash between the EU and the US, but rather an attack from Big Tech againsteveryone else.
That is why we ask you today for bold political leadership to not only stand up to the bullyingfrom Big Tech firms but also to prioritise strong enforcement of the digital rulebook. In addition,we call on you to invest in a diverse and decentralised digital sphere that is part of a sovereigndigital commons and not owned and governed by proprietary technology corporations,regardless of where they reside.
Yours sincerely,
‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, PolandAccess Now, GlobalAlgorithmWatch, GermanyAspiration, USAvaaz, GlobalBalanced Economy Project, GlobalBürgerbewegung Finanzwende, GermanyCenter for Countering Digital Hate, US/UKCorporate Europe Observatory, EUCommons Network, the NetherlandsCryptee, EstoniaDanes je nov dan, SloveniaDefend Democracy, Netherlands/BelgiumDemocracy Reporting International (DRI), GlobalDigital Action, GlobalDigitale Gesellschaft, SwitzerlandDržavljan D / Citizen D, SloveniaEKŌ, USEuropean Public Services Union (EPSU), EUEuropean Digital Rights (EDRi), EUFEMNET, GermanyGermanwatch e.V., GermanyGoliathwatch, GermanyGong, CroatiaHomo Digitalis, GreeceIrish Council for Civil Liberties, IrelandLobbycontrol, GermanyMatrix.org Foundation, UKMetamorphosis Foundation, North MacedoniaNextcloud, GermanyOpen Markets Institute, USPanoptykon Foundation, PolandPeople vs Big Tech, GlobalPolitiscope, CroatiaRebalance Now, GermanySHARE Foundation, SerbiaSOMO, the NetherlandsThe Good Lobby, EUThe London Story, Belgium / the NetherlandsTransnational Institute (TNI), the NetherlandsVrijschrift.org, NetherlandsXnet, Institute for Democratic Digitalisation, Spain

Expert Sam Power has revealed that state funding of media outlets during the election campaign is not entirely proportional.
North Macedonia has several ways to prevent corruption in online media funding through government money.

British election financing expert and University of Bristol lecturer Sam Power presented the key findings of the project “Money, Media, and Elections in North Macedonia” today at a briefing with journalists in Skopje. The event was organized by the Metamorphosis Foundation and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), writes Portalb.mk
Expert Sam Power has found that state funding of media outlets during the election campaign is not entirely proportionate. According to him, there is weak regulatory oversight, transparent in theory but not in practice.
In many areas, North Macedonia aligns with EU standards, except when it comes to indirect state funding through paid political advertising. The country’s media funding system mirrors that of countries like Bhutan, Kenya, Peru, and Thailand, as noted by Power. In contrast, countries such as Brazil, the Comoros, and Switzerland have banned political advertising altogether, while Spain and the United Kingdom offer free airtime for political content.
Currently, there is no specific body in North Macedonia to oversee online portals. Therefore, Power believes that if we give people the opportunity to behave corruptly, we should not be surprised when they do so.
“There is a high probability that state funds will be misused by politicians in connection with online portals. Money is essential, but it has the power to distort democracy,” Power said.
Based on his findings, expert Power outlined 11 recommendations based on which he aims to regulate the transparency of media financing during elections:
1. Review the distribution criteria for receiving (direct and indirect) state support, so that it is linked to votes and seats secured in previous elections, in line with EU standards.
2. Ensure timely allocation of funds and transparency of the methodology for allocating funds and designate a body responsible for disbursements.
3. To prevent established political parties from becoming too dominant, official broadcasts (offline and online) should be balanced according to the Irish model.
4. Appoint a body (likely AVMS) to monitor the activity of online portals and ensure compliance with the rules.
5. There should be no shared oversight responsibilities and each organization in the regulatory ecosystem should have a defined role in overseeing elements of election/political financing.
6. Consolidation and harmonization of regulatory responsibility between AVMS, SPC, SEC and SAO.
7. Building the integrity of the electoral process by investing in the right resources in the regulatory ecosystem.
8. Recommendation to build transparency in the political system of North Macedonia and make election expenditure payments available in the form of an easily searchable and updated database.
9. In the longer term, implementing some form of gender-specific mandates on how parties use public funds–whether by mandating that a certain percentage be dedicated to promoting women candidates, by requiring that a portion of funds be earmarked for promoting women candidates, or by offering appropriate incentives.
10. Amend the Electoral Code to explicitly prohibit hate speech in paid political advertising.
11. Introducing provisions in the Law on Financing of Political Parties to ensure fair distribution of funds for inclusive campaigns.
We remind you that the Metamorphosis Foundation investigated public funds for election campaigns on online portals. The survey was conducted on 30 selected online information portals, which is more than 10% of the total number of registered websites (251) to the State Election Commission for paid political advertising. In the period from 15 April to 10 May 2024, a total of 13,645 posts about the elections were monitored.
The survey showed that most of the monitored portals were focused on the main parliamentary parties/coalitions, while reporting on smaller parties was limited.
The research also recommends strengthening professional standards for journalists by supporting investigative and analytical reporting through specialized training programs for journalists on advanced investigative skills, ethical guidelines, and best practices in investigative journalism.
Source: Meta.mk

At Eco Logic, we are committed to promoting sustainability through innovative initiatives. One of our standout projects, RE-CYCLING: Bike Reuse and Riding Fair, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Sport Program, has made a lasting impact by encouraging green mobility, circular economy practices, and active lifestyles among children and communities across Europe.Reviving Cycling, Reducing WasteThe RE-CYCLING project was born out of a dual necessity: reintroducing kids to physical activities post-pandemic and addressing the growing problem of bicycle waste. Children outgrow their bikes quickly, leading to unnecessary waste and increased consumption. Our initiative tackled this issue by integrating bike reuse, repair workshops, and cycling fairs, fostering a culture of sustainability in the biking sector.Key Achievements of the ProjectOver the past year, RE-CYCLING has engaged young cyclists, families, and educators across four European countries—North Macedonia, Austria, Italy, and France—through hands-on activities, training programs, and community fairs. Here’s how we measured our success:Knowledge GrowthThrough our Green and Sustainable Biking training program, participants gained a deeper understanding of circular economy principles and sustainable cycling practices. Surveys showed a notable increase in awareness, particularly regarding bike reuse and repair.Promoting Green MobilityOne of the project’s goals was to increase cycling frequency among students. While data collection faced some challenges, survey results indicated strong motivation for cycling, with safer infrastructure and peer encouragement as key factors for increased bike usage.Lowering Environmental FootprintsWe assessed the carbon footprint of our RE-CYCLING fairs using CO₂ calculators, ensuring these events adhered to eco-friendly principles such as minimal waste, short supply chains, and plastic-free operations. Though comparing emissions to similar events proved difficult, we remain committed to refining our sustainability efforts.Economic Impact and Bike Repair SuccessOne of the most impactful aspects of the project was offering free bike repair services. The French RE-CYCLING fair, for example, successfully repaired nearly 100 bicycles, resulting in an estimated €1,900 in savings for participants. By keeping bikes in use longer, we not only reduced costs for families but also minimized waste.What’s Next?The success of RE-CYCLING has shown that small-scale circular economy initiatives can drive real change. Moving forward, we aim to:Expand community engagement and repair services
Advocate for safer cycling infrastructure
Standardize data collection for better impact measurementBy embracing sustainability in cycling, we are not just encouraging healthier lifestyles but also taking meaningful steps toward a greener future. Want to be part of this movement? Stay tuned for our upcoming projects and join us in making a difference.Ride Green. Repair More. Waste Less.Funded by the European Union.Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.This publication is part of the project “Re-Cycling – Bike Reuse and Riding Fair”, Project