Mostar's Bridge

Our Project Work in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia (Subregion Western Balkans)

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom has been working in the West Balkans for more than ten years now. The political project work in this region, which encompasses Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Croatia, is coordinated by the project office in Belgrade, Serbia. The Foundation also has representative offices with local facilitators in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Pristina (Kosovo).

 

In the aftermath of Yugoslavia`s civil war and the subsequent start of the transition process towards democracy, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation began its support to the countries in this region during their turbulent transformation into European states based on the rule of law.

 

In order to secure long-term political stability and democracy in the Balkans, it is necessary to work for political, social and economic cohesion with the European Union and to enhance regional cooperation among West Balkan countries. That is why the Foundation, together with its liberal partners, uses training and advice to support pro-European reformist efforts and the development of a stable civil society in these countries.

 

The emphasis of the project work in the West Balkans is the promotion of the region's  integration into Europe, the establishment and development of networks of liberal office holders, their regional interrelation, international cooperation, and ethnic dialogue. Cooperation with young politicians in this critical region is an important task for the Foundation.

 

The West Balkans project has evolved in an innovative way - it now offers online training. The 'E-SEM' series includes concepts such as new media and 'Blended-Learning' (combining face to face with online instruction).

 

Project Croatia

Seminar with facilitator Manfred Richter and the Liberal Party HSLS in Dubrovnik The Foundation has been actively working in Croatia since the country declared independence in 1991. To a great extent, the Foundation helped complete the process of centralising organised liberalism. Two liberal parties are now represented in Parliament, the Croatian People's Party (HNS) and the Social-Liberal Party (HSLS). Both have proved to be effective partners of the Foundation.

 

The Foundation has been facilitating a dialogue between Croatian and Serbian historians since 1997. During the ten meetings held so far, the most renowned historians of the two peoples have had a forum to exchange opinions regarding their countries' shared recent history. In the framework of this historic dialogue, 11 volumes of scientific works have been published.

 

West Balkans project is actively engaged in establishing a network of liberally oriented local governments, following the example of existing networks nearby, such as LiberNet in Serbia and MandatNet in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Project Serbia

Visit of liberal local politicians to Brussels in February 2008 In Serbia, the Foundation's activities are focused on local government, youth and pro-European politics. As far as its political education efforts are concerned, the Foundation no longer relies solely on traditional methods - several innovative concepts have been introduced in certain thematic areas.

 

Local Government Policy: LiberNet, the liberal office holders` network established in 2006, already has over 50 members. Local government politicians often take part in events organized by the Foundation via the network. At present, several LiberNet working parties are creating a brochure about Serbian local government. The brochure, titled "Successful Liberal Local Governance Politics in Serbia" is to be presented in the European Parliament at the end of 2009.

 

E-Seminar about the EU Integration in Gornji Milanovac, 2008 EU Policy: Project Serbia has evolved to include online educational activities. The E-SEM series offers Blended-Learning seminars on European topics, including the new media. The combination of face to face events and online sessions gives a broader target group the opportunity to take part in the Foundation' s educational activities. 

 

LDP-Conference in Belgrade, 2008 Youth Policy: In its work with aspiring politicians, the Foundation uses a framework broader than the party and regional levels. The extremely successful dialogue between young Serbian and Albanian politicians from 2005 to 2006 was used as a benchmark for the series of dialogues between young Bosnians and Serbs initiated in Spring 2009.

 

The project office in Belgrade has been working in close cooperation with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since its foundation in 2005.

 

Kosovo Project

KFOR-Soldier speaking with Ulrich Niemann, Regional Director for CEE/CA and Dr. Christian Christ-Thilo, Project Director for Western Balkans The political scene in Kosovo has been very dynamic since 1999. The Foundation's political partners are the Liberal Party of Kosovo (PLK), the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and the Autonomous Liberal Party. Together with its own training events, the Foundation takes part in joint projects with the liberal organizations National Democratic Institute and Swedish International Liberal Centre. The project office in Pristina has had an excellent working relationship with OSZE for years now.

 

The focus of the Foundation's project work in Kosovo is consulting assistance for partners regarding their programmes' structure and contents as well as in establishing liberal networks on the super-regional and international levels.

 

Project Bosnia and Herzegovina

Close cooperation with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDS) and its youth organization (MLBiH) was established over nine years ago. The local government liberal network, MandatNet, which has grown over time to include office holders from other centrist political parties as well, enhances political exchange and cooperation between liberals at the local level.

 

The Bosnian liberal democrats take part in regional, European and international liberal networks and organizations.

 

Project Montenegro

The Liberal Party of Montenegro (LPCG) is the main partner of the Foundation in Montenegro. In previous years, this party played a major part on the country's political stage but, due to many wrong moves, the Party suffered an unavoidable landslide loss in March 2009 elections, when it failed to gain representation in the Parliament. The LPCG has recently begun a major renovation of its programme and party structure, a process the Foundation is actively supporting.

 

Two networks are being established, one for liberal feminist organizations, the other, following the LiberNet / MandatNet model, for local government.

 

Project Albania

Currently, Albania lacks the prerequisites for organizing project work on a regular basis but developments in this country are being closely followed by our project offices in Belgrade and Pristina.