TEN members took part at the closed-door workshop „The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Western Balkans: Effects on Democracy, Rule of Law, and Civil Society“ organised by the Aspen Institute Germany.
The workshop gathered an expert community from the EU and the region, along with the officials from the EU and its member states. As a basis for discussion, six TEN representatives presented a working paper which addressed possible long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the countries of the region to the critical democratic principles and the rule of law.
The participants also discussed the way forward in the upcoming period, stressing the importance of empowering the civil society, media and the national parliaments in their watchdog functions and not neglecting women and vulnerable groups as the most affected by the ongoing pandemic.
The insights from the discussion will feed into the forthcoming TEN policy brief, which tackles the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the functioning of the rule of law and democracy in the Western Balkans.
