Analysis
International Relations
Prague’s Election Looms Large Over Central Europe’s Security Fate
2 October 2025
What began as a Brussels debate on NGO funding is now echoing loudly under the Tatra Mountains. Slovakia’s government is seizing the moment to push laws that could redefine the role of civil society.
Just before the hot European summer, the EPP Group managed to convince other political groups in the European Parliament to establish a special scrutiny working group on NGO funding within the Committee on Budgetary Control, to examine how the Commission finances various NGOs.
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The largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament wanted to distinguish itself – from the far right, which attacks NGOs but avoids meaningful action, and from the socialists who – at least in the EPP’s view – want no rules for NGOs at all. Whatever the outcome of this initiative, we are slowly but systematically witnessing a shift in Europe’s approach to civil society.