The Austrian Erste Foundation has expressed deep concerns regarding the detention and expulsion of participants from an NGO Academy workshop recently held in Belgrade. The foundation notes that there is no available information explaining the Serbian authorities’ reasoning behind these actions.

In a statement on LinkedIn, the Erste Foundation highlighted that the well-regarded Academy for Non-Governmental Organizations conducted a workshop in Belgrade on January 20th and 21st, with organization support from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

“The workshop hosted 22 attendees from 12 different countries. During the late evening of January 21, several participants were taken to a police station in Belgrade, interrogated by authorities, and subsequently prohibited from re-entering the country,” the statement detailed.

The Erste Foundation reports that it has confirmed 13 participants from eight countries faced this treatment, with no explanation provided to either its team or that of the Vienna University of Economics and Business regarding the incident.

“This situation is highly troubling. Alongside our partner, the Academy for Non-Governmental Organizations, we are diligently monitoring the circumstances. On January 23, the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade lodged a protest regarding the treatment of workshop participants and their expulsion from Serbia. We regret that these individuals had to endure such an experience. We remain steadfast in our commitment to civil society across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe,” the statement emphasized.

The NGO Academy, a capacity-building initiative established in 2013, has previously hosted several similar workshops in Belgrade, as noted by the Erste Foundation.

Registration for the upcoming workshop “Earned Income Strategies for Mission-Driven Organizations” began at the end of August 2024, as part of the Academy Network for NGOs, which includes 580 organizations.

This joint endeavor by the Erste Foundation and the Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship at the Vienna University of Economics and Business aims to bolster the civil society sector in Central and Eastern Europe by offering educational opportunities and capacity building.

Media reports indicated that workshop participants who were detained and expelled included citizens from nine countries: Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Albania, Moldova, Romania, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

In response to the expulsion of their nationals, Croatia formally lodged a protest with Serbia, while Albania raised significant concerns, asserting that such actions contradicted good neighborly relations. Romania, too, has sought clarification regarding the rationale behind these measures.

In response to allegations from Croatian officials concerning the expulsion of five Croatian citizens, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs remarked that Zagreb should clarify to its public what these individuals “really did in Serbia.”

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