Civic space leader warns EU institutions over attacks on NGOs and democratic erosion (euobserver.com)

• European Civic Forum report documents democratic erosion across EU member states.
• Kazatchkine describes Scrutiny Working Group as a 'witch hunt' delegitimising NGOs.
• Criminalisation of migrant solidarity and protest restrictions are key trends.

"In an interview with EUobserver, Natacha Kazatchkine, secretary general of the European Civic Forum, warns that EU institutions are contributing to the shrinking of civic space through policies targeting foreign-funded NGOs, criminalisation of solidarity, and restrictions on protest. She calls the Scrutiny Working Group in the European Parliament a 'witch hunt' that starves civil society of funding and legitimacy. The EU's new civil society strategy risks treating civic space as a separate issue."