One of the BCNL’s major undertakings is supporting other civil society organizations (CSOs) in Bulgaria. BCNL staff provide legal consultations and advice, as well as facilitating youth involvement programs and capacity-building events for organizations and activists.
“Civil society” is a somewhat nebulous concept, usually defined as a third party beyond the state and the private sector. It is endemic in Canada – charities, community interest groups, unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – and we are used to its existence in our daily lives. We do school volunteering projects, we carry around penny boxes for UNICEF on Halloween, and we raise funds for charities at student events like McGill Law’s Skit Nite. Civil society is ingrained in our culture.
Bulgarian civil society is a different story.
Prior to the shift away from communism in 1989, development of civic organizations beyond the state was limited. Unlike Canada, there were also very few charitable organizations operating – according to my colleagues who experienced it, most people only donated to religious institutions (if that). Even today, fundraising is a difficult hurdle for CSOs to overcome.[1] In the subsequent 3 decades since 1989, the civil sector has grown significantly in Bulgaria. However, it still lags behind its equivalents in Western Europe and North America, where the scene is dominated by entrenched major players like international NGOs and historic charity organizations.
The lack of historical structure for Bulgaria’s modern CSOs puts them on unsteady ground. It is something we often take for granted working in the human rights sector in Canada – that our organization will be able to function freely to achieve our goals. We have this privilege because we have created space for these activities in the legal system. In Bulgaria, however, the relative nascency of civil society, coupled with an increase in anti-globalist sentiment in recent years has led to political and legal pressures for CSOs. One example is a law regarding “foreign agents”, which was tabled in Bulgaria earlier this year. Though this law did not make it far in the ratification process, it was one of many seen throughout the region in recent years and serves as a sobering reminder of the uncertainties facing Bulgarian organizations and activists. Similar laws in Russia and Georgia restrict the ability of non-profit organizations to receive donations from outside the country. Given the aforementioned issues with fundraising among the population, this is particularly dangerous to small organizations in these states who know may be cut off from international grants and foreign government aid. In Russia, this law has already been used to target “controversial” organizations – particularly those devoted to environmental protections and the rights of the LGBT2Q+ community. Working at the BCNL, I was able to see how many Bulgarian organizations benefited from international funding – grants from organizations like USAID, the America for Bulgaria Foundation, and the Iceland-Liechtenstein-Norway Active Citizens Fund are integral to keeping organizations afloat.
Beyond the financial risks, the anti-foreign agent laws made me feel oddly vulnerable. From a certain perspective, I fit the bill of a foreign agent. I have worked for and partnered a variety of NGOs in my career, multiple of which were based entirely outside of Canada – and I am not the only one. Organizations devoted to causes under the nebulous umbrella of human rights benefit from participating in international networks and having allies beyond their own borders. Coming from the United Nations system, the thought of removing this aspect from human rights work was unthinkable to me – I cannot imagine my career without the work I have done with colleagues across the globe.
In this sense, I have ended this internship with a feeling of affirmation – my faith in the benefits of international cooperation is strengthened through witnessing both the work of the BCNL, and through experiencing the threats that cooperation is facing.
[1] One of the regular activities of the BCNL is the organization of fundraising education for civil society professionals.