Knowledge & Analysis

2025 Assessment – Report for Republic of North Macedonia

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The 2025 assessment finds the legal environment for civil society in Republic of North Macedonia broadly adequate, with meaningful progress in cooperation between the government and civil society. A new cooperation strategy was adopted and the formal dialogue mechanism re-established, while weaknesses in public consultation, the transparency of public funding and CSOs’ financial sustainability persisted in a year shaped by local elections in October 2025 and the suspension of USAID funding.

Key findings

The legal framework for freedom of association, assembly and expression continued to meet most international standards. Over 200 cases of hate speech were registered between January and June 2025, against 98 in 2024, and press freedom fell from 38th to 42nd place in the World Press Freedom Index.

15% of CSOs reported that their organisation or members had faced threats or attacks, up from 13% in 2024, and 13% reported restrictions linked to anti-money laundering and related laws, up from 7%, with banking difficulties the most frequent.

Public funding for CSOs totalled EUR 29 million for 3,514 projects in 2025, down from almost EUR 32 million in 2024, and 21% of central-level funds were distributed without a public call, mostly by the Ministry of Sport. 38% of CSOs rated public funding as transparent and fair, up from 13% in 2024.

The Parliament adopted 54% of laws through expedited procedures. While 62% of CSOs took part in at least one consultation, only 8% experienced one that gave access to the draft from the start and at least 15 days to comment.

The Strategy of the Government for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Society 2025–2028 was adopted with a budgeted Action Plan on 8 July 2025. The Council for Cooperation between the Government and Civil Society, non-functional in 2023 and 2024, held its constitutive meeting in April 2025 and six further meetings during the year.

Only 54% of CSOs reported that no single donor provided more than half of their budget, down from 60% in 2024. Almost all of the nearly USD 37 million in USAID funding originally allocated for 2025–2028 was cancelled.