On 30.09.2011. UGNV representative Belma Hadžimahmutović, attended the seminar: “The role of civil society in Euro-Atlantic integration- the experience of Slovakia” organized by the Center for Security Studies www.css.ba in Sarajevo.
The development of civil society during the transition period and after accession to NATO and the EU is presented in detail. CENNA experts (Samuel Arbe, Rebeca Murry, Vladimir Tarasovic and Elemir Necej) pointed out many similarities between the Slovak case and BiH. Slovakia was not a “success story” because authoritarian Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar was in power in the 1900s, whose government was accused of corruption, suppression of media freedom and democracy, nationalism and populism, and Slovakia was dubbed the “black hole of Europe”. It was also interesting to hear more information from the International Visegrad Fund, which consist of four countries of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) and allocates funds to civil society organizations.
