Western Balkans

Goal: Supporting successful EU integration

  • Istinomer, a fact-checking organization, serves public demand for transparency in Serbia. It also hosts debates, like this 2012 forum with candidates running for mayor of the city of Niš.
  • Western Balkans
    DokuFest is an international film festival in Kosovo, known for its showcase of works that address social, political, human rights, and most recently, environmental issues.
  • Forum MNE’s program Youth for Green Montenegro mobilizes young people to get involved with environmentalism and kickstarts local philanthropy within the business community.
  • The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network has played a critical role in collecting and disseminating the information that is the basis of a democratic state.

Program Guidelines

The countries of the Western Balkans are working to realize their European integration aspirations, as accession brings with it the promise of stability and rule of law—necessary prerequisites for long-term peace, prosperity, and democracy. The Fund’s work in the Balkans, and especially in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, gives special attention to democratic practice and sustainable development requirements.

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Funding Strategies

Featured Grantees

Members of the Youth Club of Nikšić line up to plant saplings in Montenegro's second largest city in 2014. (Image courtesy of Forum mladi i neformalna edukacija.)
Forum Mladi I Neformalna Edukacija
Candidates running for mayor in the Serbian city of Niš participating in an Istinomer debate ahead of 2012 elections, hosted by journalist Suzana Trninić. Photo courtesy CRTA.
Civic Association CRTA-The Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability
A screening at the opening ceremony of DokuFest 2011 in Prizren, Kosovo.
DokuFest

News and updates

Western Balkans

Haki Abazi on Supporting ‘The Civil Society Triangle’ to Tackle Corruption in Post-Conflict Countries

RBF Western Balkans program director details how civil society organizations can support one another's work and advocate for higher levels of transparency and accountability for a new book.
Western Balkans

Special Investigative Project by BIRN Tracks Arms Trade from Europe to the Middle East

A year-long investigation by RBF grantee the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and its partner the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, has revealed the emergence of a €1.2 billion arms pipeline fueling conflict in the Middle East.
Western Balkans

Haki Abazi on Why Extremism has Limited Appeal in Kosovo

In a new editorial, Haki Abazi, Western Balkans program director, argues that contrary to recent media reports, there is limited reach and appeal for young people in Kosovo to join the Syrian civil war.
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