Statement Of The Regional Meeting Of The Centers For Pluralism

From October 20 to 22, 2000, twenty representatives of non-governmental organizations from seven countries met to discuss the urgent problems of democratization for the Southeast European region. The meeting, hosted by the Democracy After Communism Foundation, included members and partners of the Centers for Pluralism Network, which is organized by the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe as a vehicle for encouraging cross-border cooperation and dialogue and strengthening the civic sector throughout the region.

The countries represented included Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia, which all face, in differing stages and degrees, urgent issues of democratization and civic peace.

The participants were alarmed at reports of withdrawal or even cessation of funds for civil society development in key countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Slovakia, where democratic gains are recent, fragile, or under threat. Serbian representatives were particularly concerned to hear reports that funding for civil society development had been all but stopped in Montenegro and Kosova.

The participants noted that civil society funding is critical to the continuation of democratic reforms and to the development of a social base for economic and political change. Sudden drops in democracy funding because of the adoption of new “favorite” countries from year to year or even month to month has had a calamitous effect on civil society development and as a result on political and economic reforms.

The participants of the Regional Meeting of the Centers for Pluralism in Budapest, Hungary call on the European Union, the United States, and various donor institutions to:
 

• Reestablish democracy and civil society development funding as a high priority for assistance to the overall region of Southeastern Europe;

• Stop choosing temporary favorites for donor assistance, thereby pitting country against country and creating conditions of both donor flooding and fatigue. Instead, donors should provide a basic stability over the next several years for civil society funding throughout the region and determine funding based on each country’s actual needs;

• Focus civil society development on civic education, especially efforts aimed at youth and overall initiatives directed at overcome inter-ethnic conflict, prejudices, and minority exclusion from the democratic process. Through civil society development and civic education, the basic conditions for pluralism and ethnic tolerance can be built throughout the region, just as it was in post-war Germany and Western Europe.

• Promote regional initiatives for building civil society. Democratization is strengthened through the exchange of experiences and the establishment of common cross-border programs to bring people of the region together. European and U.S.-based donors have focused their energies on funding country-specific programs where a regional approach would benefit overall democratization and stability.