The report concludes Slovenia and Latvia are countries where early warning signs can be detected on transforming the liberal into an iliberal democracy. Keuc highlighted political, media and economic attacks on non-governmental organizations in the case of Magna Steyr, where the political power did nothing to protect NGOs, but to futher exposed them. “These organizations, in turn, bring advocacy for nature or a healthy living environment, which is a constitutional category in Slovenia,” Keuc warned.

The report refers only to last year’s period, but Keuc also noted this year’s example of a response to an artist who received the Prešeren Prize. He stressed, in some cases, political attacks “are falling to the level of ridicule, shame and intimidation.”

The purpose of the report is actually to draw attention to these trends “and that we will not wait to get things up to the point where normal public discourse will not be able,” Keuc said. Several such phenomena are to be be expected in the future if citizens would not become attentive and proactive.

Awareness and education about human rights, the importance of non-governmental organizations, the importance of active citizenship are not enough but additional measures are needed if we want to live in a decent society in the future, Keuc added.

Source

More Democracy for More Europe – project supported by EU – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsi-ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Prispevek There are trends in Slovenia that weaken democracy, SLOGA warns je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.

Poročilo namreč ugotavlja, da sta Slovenija in Latvija državi, kjer je mogoče zaznati zgodnje opozorilne znake za preoblikovanje liberalne v aliberalno demokracijo. Keuc je iz poročila izpostavil politične, medijske in ekonomske napade na nevladne organizacije v primeru Magne Steyr, kjer politična oblast, ki ni naredila ničesar, da bi zaščitila nevladne organizacije, pač pa jih je še dodatno izpostavila. “Te organizacije pa namreč v postopek prinašajo zagovorništvo narave oz. zdravega življenjskega okolja, ki je v Sloveniji ustavna kategorija,” je opozoril Keuc.

Poročilo se sicer nanaša le na lanskoletno obdobje, vendar pa je Keuc opozoril tudi na letošnji primer odziva na umetniško ustvarjalko, ki je prejela Prešernovo nagrado. Povedal je, da se v nekaterih primerih napadov politika “spušča na nivo zasmehovanja, zasramovanja in ustrahovanja,” je poudaril.

Namen poročila je pravzaprav opozoriti na te trende “in da ne bomo čakali, da se zadeve zaostrijo do te mere, da bo onemogočen normalen javni diskurz,” je še poudaril Keuc. Opozoril je, da je v prihodnosti mogoče pričakovati še več takih pojavov, če državljani in državljanke ne bodo na to postali pozorni in proaktivni na tem področju. Tu pa ni dovolj le osveščanje in izobraževanje o človekovih pravicah, o pomenu nevladnih organizacij, o pomenu aktivnega državljanstva, vendar pa so potrebni še dodatni ukrepi, če želimo v prihodnosti še živeti v spodobni družbi, je še dodal Keuc.

Vir

Več

More Democracy for More Europe – project supported by EU – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsi-ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Prispevek SLOGA opozarja, da so v Sloveniji zaznani trendi, ki slabijo demokracijo je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.

In this report, we have focused on four target countries: Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and Latvia. In each of the countries we were trying to detect illiberal trends in societies. This report is not classical human rights report. It narrows down to illiberal trends which we define through the political attacks on three fundamental human rights (freedom of expression, right to assembly and right to freedom of associations) and visible on four social groups (civil society, media, independent art and judiciary).

In Hungary, as already well-known established ill democracy country, we have detected those trends which transformed the country into the absolute model of governance.

In Croatia, a country that was exposed to ill democracy for 6 months (Jan –June 2016) under the Orešković-Karamarko government, it was interesting to spot the consequences of ill democratic ruling.

Finally, in Slovenia and Latvia – as two states that still have not experienced ill democracies, we were trying to detect ill democratic trends which can be understood as an early warning signals for transformation of liberal into illiberal democracy.

The report was published within the “More democracy for more Europe” project, financed by the EACEA (Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency) of the European Union.

REPORT ON ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY TRENDS IN CROATIA, SLOVENIA, HUNGARY AND LATVIA

More Democracy for More Europe – project supported by EU – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsi-ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Prispevek Report on illiberal democracy trends in Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and Latvia je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.

Grafitarji, umetniki iz vseh štirih držav, so bili pozvani, da ustvarijo grafite, ki bo opozarjali na te trende. Vse umetnine so vidne prek videa: https://youtu.be/YRJb2ZTcAYY. Več informacij o kampanji je dostopno prek povezave: http://www.crosol.hr/eng/pan-european-campaign-more-democracy-for-more-europe.

Fenomen aliberalnih demokracij zmanjšuje koncept demokracije samo na večstrankarski sistem, hkrati pa poskuša zatreti ali institucionalno marginalizirati vse ostale temeljne elemente, potrebne za ustrezno delovanje demokratične pluralistične družbe. V tem smislu politični voditelji tako imenovanih aliberalnih demokracij neposredno napadajo človekove pravice, zlasti tiste, povezane s svobodo zbiranja, združevanja in izražanja. Kritične organizacije civilne družbe, neodvisni mediji ter neodvisno sodstvo in druge institucije, ki so odgovorne za zaščito človekovih pravic in delovanja demokracije, so vse bolj izpostavljene njihovemu vplivu. Ta pojav je bil znan zunaj EU, vendar se je v zadnjih nekaj letih začel širiti tudi znotraj meja EU.

Razmere na Poljskem in Madžarske so morda najboljši primer take politike, kjer državljani dajejo podporo političnim strankam, katerih politični cilji so v nasprotju z evropskim načelom vladavine prava EU. Druge vzhodnoevropske in srednjeevropske države so prav tako občutljive do tovrstnih napadov. Vidimo enak vzorec kot na Madžarskem in Poljskem – napadi na civilnodružbene skupine, neodvisne medije in porast ksenofobije. Begunska kriza je razmere le še zaostrila. To je jasno znamenje, da so se državljani vzhodnoevropskih držav članic EU pripravljeni odreči nekaterim temeljnim vrednotam in človekovim pravicam, kot so svoboda izražanja, svoboda zbiranja, svoboda medijev, civilna družba ali neodvisno sodstvo. Ti trendi resno ogrožajo evropska načela vladavine prava.

S to kampanjo želimo poslati različna sporočila iz vzhodnoevropskih držav. Verjamemo, da so aliberalne demokracije slabe demokracije. Menimo tudi, da mora Evropa spremeniti in sprejeti več demokracije ter zagotoviti večjo zaščito za vse vrednote človekovih pravic; od civilnih in političnih do socialnih in ekonomskih pravic. Želimo živeti v družbah, kjer liberalne pravice ne obremenjujejo družbenoekonomskih pravic in obratno.

Državljani teh držav – državljani Evrope – izjavljamo, da ne podpiramo vzpona aliberalnih demokracij. Ideja solidarnosti in demokracije v Evropi mora živeti naprej. Samo skupaj lahko ozdravimo naše demokracije.

Več demokracije za več Evrope!

Več informacij:

Patricija Virtič

SLOGA, platforma nevladnih organizacij za razvoj, globalno učenje in humanitarno pomoč

031 410 550

patricija.virtic@sloga-platform.org

SLOGA – kampanja Več demokracije za več Evrope SPOROČILO ZA JAVNOST

Prispevek Več demokracije za več Evrope – začetek vseevropske kampanje je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.

I(l)liberal democracies phenomenon reduces the concept of democracy to a mere multiparty system, while at the same time attempts to suppress or institutionally marginalize all the remaining fundamental components needed for an adequate functioning of a democratic pluralistic society.  In this sense, political leaders of so-called il(l)iberal democracies are directly attacking  human rights – particularly the ones  related to freedom of assembly, association and expression. Critical civil society organizations, independent media as well as independent judiciary and other institutions responsible for the protection of human rights and the functioning of democracy all become subjected to their impact.

This phenomenon was well-known outside of the EU, but in the last couple of years it has begun to spread even within the EU borders. At this conference, we will discuss whether illiberal democracy can be perceived as democracy at all, why is it that they come to fertile ground in Eastern European countries, and ultimately – how to resist them? This conference will bring together some of the leading experts in the field of international relations, and human rights protection, who will – together with activists from European countries – articulate resistance strategies towards autocratic trends in Europe.

Panel 3, “Living on the edge of illiberal democracy”

• Jelena Berković, GONG
• Albin Keuc, SLOGA (Slovenia)
• Mr.Krisjanis Liepa, LAPAS (Latvia)
• Xhabir Deralla, CIVIL (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

Moderator: Ivan Novosel, HRH Zagreb

https://youtu.be/GPFCNOxhWe4

VIDEO: Day 1, Opening panel: “Illiberal trends in Europe: what’s the appeal?”

1. prof. dr. sc. Žarko Puhovski, Professor of political philosophy
2. prof. dr. sc. Vesna Pusić, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia and  Professor of sociology of politics at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
3. dipl. iur. Jadranka Kosor, former Prime Minister of Croatia

​Moderator: Ivana Dragičević, Journalist

VIDEO: Day 2, Panel 1, “What is illiberal democracy? Why, when and where does it happen?”

1. dr. sc. Dominic Eggel, The Graduate Institute Geneva
2. dr. sc. Dejan Jović, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb

Moderator: Gordan Bosanac, CROSOL/CPS

VIDEO: Day 2, Panel 2, “Illiberal democracies: first-hand experience”

1. Tamas Boros, Political Expert, Hungary
2. Katarzyna Batko Toluć, Sieć Obywatelska Watchdog Polska

Moderator: Florian Irminger, Human Rights House Foundation

VIDEO: Day 2, Panel 3, “Living on the edge of illiberal democracy”

• Jelena Berković, GONG
• Albin Keuc, SLOGA (Slovenia)
• Mr.Krisjanis Liepa, LAPAS (Latvia)
• Xhabir Deralla, CIVIL (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

Moderator: Ivan Novosel, HRH Zagreb

VIDEO: Day 2, Panel 4: “Resisting ill democracies in Europe: Understanding the playbook of iliberal governments to better resist them” and “Future steps: Ideas on How to Change the illiberal trends”

• Alexandra Swetzer, Human Rights House Foundation
• Ivan Novosel, Human Rights House Zagreb
• Konrad Siemaszko, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)

Moderator: Marina Škrabalo, Solidarna – Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity

More Democracy for More Europe – project supported by EU – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

Prispevek SLOGA part of an international conference on illiberal democracies in Zagreb je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.

Part of this forum was a round table panel with journalists and civil society actors from Poland, Croatia and Hungary. This panel discussion was organised within the frame of a joint project run by four CONCORD members: CROSOL (Croatian national platform), HAND (Hungarian national platform), LAPAS (Latvian national platform) and SLOGA (Slovenian national platform) called More Democracy for More Europe.

Hungarian journalists shared their experiences of limits to their freedom of expression in recent months, including the closing of an independent newspaper Népszabadság and participants heard more detailed accounts of the government raids on foundations benefiting from foreign funding. As with earlier interventions from across Europe, the point that once the questioning of the importance of civil society is accepted by the public, it is very difficult to recover, was made. In the second half of the panel, attention was turned to Poland and Croatia, where similar trends can be observed.

Short summary of this inspiring talk:

More Democracy for More Europe is a program with the aim of mapping the “Shrinking Space through illiberal democracy governance” and to find ways to people and help each other in not letting it happen.

Exactly one month after the closing of Népszabadság, on the day of the US presidential election and the same day the Hungarian government seventh – this time failed – attempt of changing the fundamental law, there was a conference on civil society: how do governments act, what can the independent media, and what the non-governmental sector do to stop such shrinking.

The director of CONCORD, Seamus Jefferson, who moderated the discussion, highlighted that the priority of the two-day program is gathering information, exchanging experiences and opportunities and discussing good practices. “Most of us are involved in international development. Our Job is to represent the democratic and European values in countries remote from us. In order to credibly represent this, we must first restore order around our own houses” – he said in the summary.

András Dési, Senior Editor & Reporter with Hungary’s leading political newspaper NÉPSZABADSÁG for more than 26 years had an emotional but factual recollection of the events of the past few months, and the surprise suspension of the newspaper.

Tamás Bodoky, an investigative journalist and editor of átlátszó.hu expressed his opinion that one of the root causes of the problem is the ownership of the media. “In Hungary the media is the toy of the rich, in most of the cases the wall between the editorial and the ownership is absent and they use the paper or the television to broadcast their own views.” “Politics uses the media directly and indirectly through economic means. By influencing the market it diverted investigative journalism, so reducing readers’ access to reality.

Veronika Móra, director of Ökotárs called alarming the fact that two processes started as a result of the government control of the Norwegian Funds. One is that the credibility of NGOs decreased in the eyes of the incompetent, second is that there are still civilians under the pressure of the government and the propaganda. On the other hand, as a somewhat hopeful occurrence, certain civil society actors started to see the need and possibility of co-operation.”

“Hungarian democracy started as a peaceful process back then, with no fights – so we cannot really see the value of its results and its institutions. We did not have to fight for their survival. We have to start building civil society from the scratch, from grass-root service providing, in small steps, with lots of patience.”

According to Małgorzata Szuleka, a lawyer and researcher at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, also the activist of Black Monday in Poland, the attempts of the Hungarians are exemplary in Poland, especially that the exchange of experiences between the right-wing politicians exist as well. In Poland, the government propaganda singled out the Constitutional Court for the role of the “main enemy”. She admitted that in addition to the public media, in the private sector a more or less independent media can operate, and it has effect and is accepted by the people. However attacks appeared in social media sites. People call themselves conservatives began to denounce the operation of NGOs on Twitter. “Good, easy to understand narrative would be essential towards youth and the less educated people, because this is how the populist governments win so much support.”

Gordan Bosanac, Chief Analyst at the Centre for Peace Studies in Zagreb, Croatia and coordinator of Human Security programme, leader of CROSOL pointed out how surprising it was amongst the new European countries that the direction of political discourse opposes the common European values. He sees Croatia lucky not to have a government winning with overwhelming majority, as both the hungarian and polish examples show fast decline of such values, as right wing parties started demolishing the pillars of democracy right after getting into power.  “The operation of illiberal politics: find or create an enemy, feared by most people and offer protection against it by any means, even the most violent ones”. According to Mr Bosanac, the solution is in international cooperation and actions among civil society organizations.

Panelists:
Veronika Móra, Hungarian civil society expert

Małgorzata Szuleka, Helsińska Fundacja Praw Człowieka Poland (also Polish Black Monday Activist)

András Dési, Hungarian journalist, Népszabadság

Tamás Bodoky, Hungarian journalist, atlatszo.hu

Gordan Bosanac, Chair of Croatian national platform CROSOL

Moderator: Seamus Jeffreson, CONCORD Director

FULL REPORT

MORE PICTURES

More Democracy for More Europe – project supported by EU – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

Prispevek Forum on the Shrinking Space of Civil Society je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.

A View from Hungary, Poland and Croatia

Danubius Hotel Arena Ifjúság útja 1-3, 1148 Budapest, Hungary

November 8, 2016, 17:00 – 18:30

In recent years we have seen the rise of the anti-liberal democracy politics in Eastern European EU member states. The situation in Poland and Hungary is maybe the best example of such politics where citizens are giving support to political parties whose political objectives are against the EU rule of law principles. Other Eastern and Central European states are also vulnerable towards these types of attacks. In Croatia, the last government tried, but has failed, to go into the Hungarian and Polish illiberal governance model, conducting attacks on civil society groups, independent media and the rise of xenophobia. Current refugee crisis has also deepen those concerns. This is a clear sign that the citizens of Eastern European EU member states are willing to give up of some of the fundamental human rights values such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, free media, civil society or independent judiciary. Those trends are seriously harming EU rule of law principles but also are derogating human rights standards.

Although we are witnessing shrinking of the CSOs spaces across Europe, it is important to note different models and strategies which some governments are using to shrink those spaces. So called illiberal democracy model is specifically targeting CSOs and the media, without any hidden but rather direct agenda to exclude CSOs and independent media from the political arena.

Those attacks should also concern development CSOs across European Union. Derogation of human rights and democratic standards within the EU is questioning the credibility of EU CSOs active abroad to work on democracy and human rights issues across the globe. How can CSOs in EU be taken seriously globally, if our governments back home are lacking the respect of human rights and democratic standards?

During this round table we shall inform the public about the current situation in Poland, Hungary and Croatia and discuss how the civil resistance and cooperation between CSOs across the EU can create line of resistance towards attacks on our fundamental freedoms: freedom of expression, association and assembly.

The panelists at the round table are:

András Dési, Hungarian journalist, Népszabadság

Tamás Bodoky, Hungarian journalist

Veronika Móra, Hungarian civil society expert

Małgorzata Szuleka, Helsińska Fundacja Praw Człowieka Poland (also Polish Black Monday Activist)

Gordan Bosanac, Chair of Croatian national platform CROSOL

Moderator: Seamus Jeffreson, CONCORD Director

More Democracy for More Europe – project supported by EU – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

Prispevek Panel discussion: shrinking civil society space through illiberal democracy governance je bil prvič objavljen na strani Platforma SLOGA.