NED’s focus in Central and Eastern Europe during 2003 was primarily on the countries of the Balkans. Despite the fall of Slobodan Milosevic and the presence of 65,000 NATO troops and numerous international aid organizations, the region continued to be plagued by political instability, inter-ethnic tension and economic malaise. Although the Balkans showed signs of stabilizing after years of conflict, efforts by countries to reform their political and economic systems continued to be impeded by weak institutions, political extremism, corruption and unresolved border issues.
NED continued to address the deep-rooted problems of the region with programs to promote the strengthening of the nongovernmental sector in those countries—like Albania and Moldova—where civil society was weak, to encourage the development of independent media, increased transparency in the political process and accountability of elected officials, and the promotion of economic reform and the rights of workers. The Endowment gave greater emphasis during the year
to programs that supported the political process, especially citizens’ participation in local governance and programs that developed civic institutions which monitored and, where necessary, assisted reformist governments. NED funding also encouraged greater cross-border cooperation between civic organizations within the region, and between Balkan democracy activists and their colleagues in Central Europe and Eurasia.
The republics of the former Yugoslavia continued to be an area of particular interest for the Endowment. In Serbia, NED assisted media programs designed to raise the awareness of ordinary Serbs about the events of the last decade, in particular the Milosevic regime’s role in the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Radio Television B-92 produced TV documentaries, which in one case led directly to the first-ever war crimes convictions by the Serbian judicial system. NED committed increased resources during the year to civic efforts to reform the police and the army in Serbia, which continued to be controlled by remnants of the Milosevic regime. Given the general lack of professionalism in the media sector in the region, NED also supported programs that educated journalists in Western standards and trained young journalists in investigative reporting techniques. Endowment funds maintained the operations of the only independent journalism school in the unstable province of Kosovo; and in Bosnia, ACILS improved the ability of local unions to defend the legal rights of workers, educate members about their rights, and expand their outreach to young workers.
Despite invitations to Romania and Bulgaria to join NATO and the general pro-reform direction of their current governments, the two countries’ highly centralized political systems continued to restrict citizen input while their economies remained largely unreformed. Romanian grantee, The Community Foundation-Sibiu, conducted a program that increased citizen involvement in the local decision making process on the allocation of municipal budgets, thereby
encouraging greater transparency of city governments. With Endowment support, NDI provided campaign-organizing and voter-outreach training to democratic political parties in Romania ahead of this year’s local and national elections.
NED increased its funding to democratic groups in Albania, where reform efforts continue to be thwarted
by weak state institutions, an underdeveloped civil society and a deeply divided political landscape. NED-funded programs that promoted greater cooperation between civic groups and law enforcement agencies to build greater trust between local communities and the police. The Tirana-based Institute for Democracy and Mediation received NED funding to establish non-governmental Police-Community Relations Committees in towns throughout Albania to mediate disputes between citizens and law enforcement officials.
NED became increasingly involved in Moldova during 2003. The country is marked by weak state institutions, widespread corruption, a fledgling civil society and an opposition marginalized by the increasing authoritarianism of a Communist-led government. Moreover, Moldova continues to be a divided state, with one-quarter of its territory controlled by the self-proclaimed “Transdniester Republic,” which is dominated by Russian extreme nationalist forces and military units. In 2003, the BIOTICA Ecological Society received NED funding to ensure the expansion and long-term survival of the nascent civic sector in Transdniestria by establishing five NGO resource centers in the breakaway region.
In 2003, NED made its final grants for projects in Slovakia where, with a successful parliamentary election in late 2002 and invitations to join NATO and the E.U., a democratic transition seems to be firmly on track. The program focused resources on organizations based in Bratislava which are acting as advocates for new legislation on key issues, such as corruption, and are serving as watchdogs to oppose backsliding on reforms. The Institute for Public Affairs,
Slovakia’s leading think tank, used assistance to prepare a “report card” on the state of the country’s reforms.
NED continued to support and expand cost-effective regional programs that transfer NGO experiences, skills, and program models from Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic to their Balkan counterparts. In the area of cross-border programs, NED drew on its extensive networks in Eastern Europe. MEMO 98, a Slovak organization that is one of Central Europe’s leading media monitoring organizations, developed media monitoring programs in Serbia and Montenegro which are serving as watchdogs and advocates for media reform. The Poland-based Educational Society of Malopolska (MTO) promoted activism at the grassroots level by establishing parent-teacher NGOs in Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Croatia. Transitions Online (TOL), a media development organization based in Prague, worked with the Sarajevo Media Center and Transparency International-Bosnia to implement an investigative journalism project in Bosnia.
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