civil society

BELGRADE - Serbia's first semi-annual report following the opening of Chapters 23 and 24 in its EU accession talks will be presented to the European Commission (EC) in late January and then sent by the EC to the member states in March, Serbia's chief EU negotiator Tanja Miscevic announced Tuesday.

The Public Revenue Office, UJP confirmed on Tuesday that it is preparing to send financial inspectors to the Foundation Open Society - Macedonia and to 20 other NGOs, but dismissed allegations that its actions were motivated by the ruling party threat to combat internationally-funded civil sector groups that allegedly work for foreign interests.

Turkish and Greek Cypriots marched together Dec. 14 to urge their leaders on the island to reach agreement at a make-or-break reunification summit in Switzerland next month.

As the Syrian government mops up the last rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo - amid reports on fresh air strikes and civilian casualties - activists all over former Yugoslavia have urged people and governments to show more solidarity with the victims of the conflict.

A rally in Sarajevo on Wednesday will show solidarity with the people of Aleppo, as pro-government forces in Syria close in on the last remaining rebel-held neighbourhoods in the east of the besieged city.

Cultural and civil society associations have jointly organised the demonstration, which will take place outside the BBI shopping mall in central Sarajevo at 3pm.

In parallel with increased diplomatic traffic between Ankara and Moscow, relevant mechanisms to provide a better and more efficient civil society dialogue have been re-activated between Turkey and Russia as part of efforts to fully normalize bilateral relations. 

The perpetrators of a Dec. 10 bomb attack in Istanbul will sooner or later "be made to pay," Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Dec. 12, vowing to take measures against terrorists, while his earlier comments sparked discussions in parliament.  

Kosovo is considering how to reform its pension scheme for war veterans to address the spiralling cost after being urged by the International Monetary Fund to tackle the problem, officials in Pristina told BIRN.

Turkey's government is continuing to neglect its women as it seeks to improve its image abroad following July's attempted coup, according to the head of the Turkish Businesswomen's Association (TİKAD).

"Women's NGOs should have been present" in the delegations sent abroad, but they almost all consisted of men, Nilüfer Bulut said. "I favor equal representation."

BELGRADE - The fate of the EU, the impact of the rise of nationalism and populism on the European idea and enlargement as the member and candidate countries' potential answer to the crisis are topics to be discussed by participants of the 4th Belgrade Dialogues.