EU Values Foresight
Policy Brief
Think Tank
Russian Threats Rise. How Does CEE Fund Its Security?
14 October 2025
Strengthening civil society organisations in Central and Eastern Europe is essential to upholding democratic resilience in the face of political and security threats.
Join us on 17 July at 3:00 PM CEST for an exclusive Zoom discussion exploring how the financing of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia can be better supported to defend core EU democratic values, restore public trust, and contribute meaningfully to the cohesion and resilience of societies in at-risk Member States.
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As regional insecurity grows and democratic institutions weaken, rising polarisation and nationalist sentiment further strain the social fabric, what can the EU or private donors do to protect civil society – and why does it matter for Europe’s democratic resilience?
Building on a forthcoming policy brief by Magda Jakubowska and Marzenna Guz-Vetter, this discussion will explore new strategies to reinforce civic space in Central Europe – from embedding democratic safeguards in EU funding to providing emergency and core support for CSOs in vulnerable member states.
We’ll tackle essential questions:
- What tools can the EU deploy to shield civil society from political interference?
- How can value-based funding secure democratic integrity across the bloc?
- Will the next EU budget (MFF) finally treat civil society as part of Europe’s defence?
- Can the EU defend its values if it sidelines the very organisations fighting for them?
- What would it take to turn Europe’s civil society into a true line of defence against authoritarianism?
Speakers:
Marzenna Guz-Vetter – former director of the European Commission Representation in Poland. From 2005 to 2023, she worked for the European Commission’s Directorate for Communications. She’s a Senior Fellow at Visegrad Insight.
Magda Jakubowska – Vice President and Director of Operations at the Res Publica Foundation. She is responsible for planning, managing key ventures, including institutional cooperation and partnerships, strategic foresights’ development, and programming.
The discussion will be moderated by Staś Kaleta, editor at Visegrad Insight. It will last 60 minutes and begin with an on-the-record panel discussion with our speakers, followed by an off-the-record Q&A session.
Register by filling out the form:
Our Foresight on EU Values and Democratic Security is supported by the 4-year European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) framework cooperation.
