ZAGREB, 29 Jan (Hina) – The influence of civil society organisations in Croatia is currently at a very low level, with reasons for this situation including labelling from political circles, insufficient funding, and the departure of skilled personnel from government offices, it was said in Zagreb on Wednesday.
“Since 2016, we have witnessed a clear change in the government’s approach to civil society and a kind of ‘ghosting,’ which is when the other party disappears from a relationship without a rational explanation. We feel that disappearance of a partner we formally have, but actually do not have. The influence of civil society organisations has been weakening for years, and I would say it is now at a rather low level, although there are some sectors that have a somewhat more successful dialogue,” Lejla Šehić Relić, a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society, said at a panel at which the Rule of Law Report was presented.
She was referring to the document “Rule of Law Report: Civil Society and Participation in Decision-Making Processes”, which follows the recommendations of the current European Commission Rule of Law Report.
The panel at the Europe House in Zagreb was organised by the House of Human Rights and the Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law.
Negative trends from other European countries are present in Croatia, and one of them is the “delegitimising narrative coming from the political spectrum that otherwise advocates for narrowing the space for minority groups,” Šehić Relić said.
Organisations that are critical of the authorities are often labelled and delegitimised in order to hinder their advocacy positions, she stressed.
Additionally, civil society organisations are facing financing problems as funds from public sources are increasingly limited.
Ivan Novosel, program director of the House of Human Rights, warned about the erosion of expert personnel from three government offices: the Office for NGOs, the Office for Gender Equality, and the Office for Human Rights and the Rights of National Minorities.
“These institutions, which were once the driving force behind the development of policies in the fields of human rights and civil society, have been reduced to mere remnants. There are no more experts due to poor political staffing. The leaders of these institutions currently do not have the political power to fight for the adoption of implementing documents,” he said.
Novosel pointed out that for the ninth year in a row, there is no National Plan for the Development of Civil Society. He also mentioned as one of the bigger problems the inability to truly participate in decision-making processes.
“The problem is that the state asks for advice when everything is already decided. E-consultations happen for draft laws when they are already finished. And then we end up with numbers showing over 80%В of rejected comments, and what they accept are only technical amendments,” Novosel said.
The only civil society organisations receiving support are those providing social services, such as transporting students to schools or people to hospitals, said Deputy Ombudswoman Tatjana Vlašić.
“It should be noted that the price at which civil society organisations are expected to carry out these tasks is significantly lower than the one institutions have when implementing the same services,” she said.
Furthermore, Vlašić noted that many civil society organisations have been under increased pressure in the last eight years, particularly those working on issues such as migration, dealing with the past, women’s rights, transgender rights, etc.
