This past May I visited grantees in Serbia, Kosova, Macedonia, and Croatia. Wherever I went I found friends anguished over the increasing authoritarianism in the region and the weakening of democratic institutions. The deteriorating political and economic situation is particularly dramatic in Kosova, causing many young people to flee to Western Europe. A recent study of countries ranked Macedonia number one in high unemployment, with a rate of 33.8%.
Several months ago, protesters in Macedonia launched The Colorful Revolution, hurling balloons filled with paint at government buildings and monuments on a daily basis. They are protesting widespread corruption and the president’s pardons of criminals.
The unemployment rates remain stubbornly high in all of the Balkans, so you’d think that any development that would stimulate the economies and bring jobs would be welcome. That’s not the case in Serbia and Bosnia where the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Dubai are developing a luxurious resort on the Belgrade waterfront and a tourist city in the highlands of Bosnia. This past June, 20,000 people staged a protest in Belgrade against the development using the slogan, “Don’t drown Belgrade.” Protesters are furious over their politicians’ secretive negotiations for the projects and the unforeseen ways the developments will change their cultures.
Grantees were also disillusioned by the International Court of Justice’s recent acquittals of high-ranking officers whose subordinates committed heinous crimes during the Balkans war. Legal experts are baffled by The Hague’s decisions to weaken criteria for criminal responsibility. These days, high-ranking politicians are more likely to go to prison for taking bribes than for ordering mass murder. Vojislav Seselj, a former ally of Slobodan Milosevic was acquitted this summer. The leader of the ultra-nationalist Radical party in Serbia, he is now free to participate in politics while the victims of the war have lost their chance for justice. Many activists worry that the acquittals will normalize violence in Serbia, giving permission to street thugs to be violent.
The fallout from right-wing policies has been a dramatic cut in funds for civil society, a blow to Heart and Hand grantees. Some could apply to the European Union, but as small nonprofits they don’t have the staff or time to fill out lengthy applications or recruit the necessary five grantseeking partners.
Recognizing that they have to become more resourceful in raising funds, several grantees asked me to lead a workshop on fundraising while I was there. I hope that all of you reading this will respond with gifts as large as you can make to support these hard working activists.
