Retour Law enforcement and civil society from the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions join forces against discrimination in Sarajevo

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Law enforcement and civil society from the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions join forces against discrimination in Sarajevo

Representatives of law enforcement and civil society organisations from the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions met in Sarajevo on 15 October 2025 to strengthen dialogue, build trust, and work together to combat hatred, discrimination, and racism in line with European standards.

The regional event, organised with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, provided a platform for participants to exchange good practices and reaffirm the Council of Europe’s commitment to policing that protects the human rights of all people.

“I am pleased we are able to create a space to share experiences, learn from each other, and talk about a topic that unites us all – our desire for our work to be professional, just, and committed to understanding every person,” said Amir Halilović, Head of the Sarajevo Canton Criminal Police Sector, opening the event.

Building on the outcomes of a previous workshop held last June in Durrës, Albania, the discussions in Sarajevo focused on ways to strengthen the role of law enforcement in protecting ethnic and religious minorities. Participants explored how to translate commitments into actions by improving the investigation, reporting, and prosecution of hate crimes.

“We value the commitment of the police in addressing hatred on all grounds in our societies, as they are among the first responders approached by the people. By providing this platform of exchange, the EU and the Council of Europe aim to increase the minorities’ trust in the institutions, allowing for mutual learning between police delegations based on good practices,” added Angela Longo, Head of the Council of Europe Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Unit.

Over two days, participants reviewed domestic and European legal frameworks, analysed case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and compared institutional practices to tackle hate crime. The focus was on sharing what works and discussing challenges ahead - identifying strategies to improve the effectiveness and quality of law enforcement responses while remaining anchored in human rights obligations.

“The standards, recommendations, and strong monitoring mechanisms are crucial, but they should be enforced. The purpose of this event is to learn from one another how to achieve this and learn about experiences from different European regions on what works in practice,” said Vahagn Muradyan, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo.

Looking ahead, participants agreed to continue their co-operation through follow-up activities and future exchanges. Strengthening trust and open communication between police and communities will remain at the heart of efforts to build more inclusive societies based on respect, dignity, and human rights for all.

This regional event is organised within the action “Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans” and the project “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies” – co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe respectively under the joint European Union and Council of Europe programmes “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” and “Partnership for Good Governance”.

It is also supported by the Council of Europe projects “Combating discrimination, hatred and racism in Bosnia and Herzegovina” and “Fostering societal cohesion by reinforcing minority rights and minority languages” and the EU/CoE projects “Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine” and ''Combatting hate speech in Ukraine''. 

15 OCTOBER 2025
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The project contributes to reinforcing national remedies against hate speech and strengthening of the capacities of the state authorities, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders to respond and combat discrimination and hate speech, in line with the European standards.

This project is implemented within the third Phase of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance (PGG). It builds on the results of the previous phases of the PGG in the field of promoting equality and non-discrimination (Phase I 2015-2018 and Phase II 2019-2023).

The project activities are based on the European Convention on Human Rights, case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, monitoring findings and standards of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the recent Recommendation of the  Committee of Ministers on Combating Hate Speech (CM/REC(2022)16), but also on the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for the Ukraine (2023-2026) and the European Commission’s opinion on the country’s application for EU membership relating to the candidate status, a new European perspective for Ukraine (2022).

  • The objective of the project is to strengthen capacities of relevant stakeholders to prevent and combat hate speech in Ukraine and ensure better protection of vulnerable groups, more accessible redress mechanisms - in line with European standards and the best practices.
  • Office of Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid Providing
  • Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, National Police of Ukraine
  • State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience
  • Office of the Prosecutor General, Prosecutor's Training Center of Ukraine
  • National School of Judges of Ukraine
  • National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine
  • Commission of journalistic ethic 
  • Civil society organisations
  • General public
     
  • Through a combination of tailored policy/legislative review, capacity-building and awareness raising actions, peer-to- peer activities and networking.
  • Ukrainian institutions improve co-ordination and quality of data collection regarding hate speech based on common understanding of hate speech.
  • Build capacity of public sector involved in monitoring and redress of hate speech based on ECRI GPR No. 15 and the Recommendation on combatting hate speech CM/Rec(2022)16.
  • Relevant stakeholders (state and non-state actors) build common understanding of hate speech and the role of educational and awareness-rising tools to respond to it.
  • Civil society organisations and groups targeted by hate speech are supported to respond using counter narratives and raising awareness activities towards the general public.
  • The total budget of the project is 370 000 Euros.

The “Partnership for Good Governance” (PGG) is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe for strengthening good governance in the Eastern Partnership region.

PGG provides tailor-made support to Eastern Partnership countries to bring their legislation and practice closer to European standards in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy. It supports, in particular, Eastern Partnership countries’ domestic reforms to strengthen justice, counter economic crime, promote equality and non-discrimination, advance women’s access to justice and combat violence against women.