Democracy and Human Rights

On April 28, Montenegro got a new, minority Government. Prime Minister Dritan Abazović’s cabinet, however, is one of the largest in the country’s recent, three-decades long history of multi-party democracy.

With everything that awaits us in the coming years, we must find a spark of optimism in the success achieved by the “Moramo” coalition and in the fact that self-organization and political action of individuals in Serbia is still possible. We can either join in and support that fight in the new cycle of the poisonous rule of Aleksandar Vučić, or keep being hostages to his politics. 

Serbia has been wandering about in terms of both foreign policy and security for over 30 years now. Officials say Serbia supports Ukraine's territorial sovereignty and integrity, but it only joined in on the condemnation of Russia at multilateral forums.

The Heinrich  Böll Foundation, as an organization affiliated with the German Greens, feels a responsibility to respond to the unauthorized use of the symbols of the German Greens by a recently renamed political party in Serbia.

Looking back at 16 years of Angela Merkel's Balkan policy, there were ups and downs, but the objective of eventually bringing Serbia closer to the EU has failed. It is now high time for a fresh, new start to Germany‘s relationship to the key enabler or blocker of a European future for the region - Serbia.

Can two people of the same sex get married in Kosovo? – The never-ending question that continues to raise dust for years on end. In principle, the right to marry and have a family is protected and guaranteed by contemporary constitutions as a fundamental right for everyone. The Constitution of Kosovo is no exception in this regard, explicitly or implicitly recognizing same-sex marriages.

Today’s Montenegro, has slowly started to understand and accept diversity, outside of what is traditionally seen as a “minority” - religious, national, ethnic, etc. Thus, talk about LGBT people began picking up pace slowly and quietly as early as 2002, at first within institutions of the system, under the influence of reform processes and the international community.

At the beginning of the 2010s, the queer movement in Serbia started its race for marriage equality. The deadline set by the state for this was the last quarter of 2017. However, not only was the Draft of the Law on Same-Sex Partnerships not compiled until this year, but not a single activity has been initiated by the competent authorities which would have resulted in awareness-raising among the general public on the necessity of regulating this issue.