In 2018, the European Commission organized its Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights in Brussels for the fourth time. The keywords of this year's event drawing about 400 attendants were "Democracy in the European Union", grouped around three main themes: resilient and inclusive democracy, free and strong civil society, free and fair elections. The director of Ökotárs as a speaker in the second topic briefly described the deterioration of the situation of civil society in Hungary during the recent years, the root causes of the process and the results of civic cooperation and “self-defense” - meaning here primarily the establishment and operation of the Civilization coalition. She also emphasized the need for a more active role of the EU institutions in preserving the diversity of the civil sector both in terms of financial support and non-monetary means.
