Overview
The Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD) is a 10-year, $30-million grantmaking initiative that supports democracy, good governance, and Euroatlantic integration in Southeastern Europe. This award-winning public-private partnership was created in 2003 by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. BTD is structured to allow both European and U.S. partners to join the effort to strengthen transatlantic cooperation in the Balkans. Since its founding, additional contributions from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Belgrade, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Tipping Point Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo, the Robert Bosch Foundation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark have made BTD a true transatlantic partnership. Grantmaking
Operating from the German Marshall Fund's Belgrade office, BTD awards grants in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia, including Kosovo. BTD also gives regional grants to organizations promoting the benefits of a pan-Balkan network. Policy Dialogue
In addition to grantmaking, the Balkan Trust for Democracy continually works to accelerate the region's integration into Euroatlantic structures and to raise the profile of the Balkans. Together with GMF's Washington Headquarters and its other European offices, BTD connects local actors with European Union, American, and international individuals and institutions in order to build networks and consensus on Balkan issues from a broader, multi-stakeholder perspective. The Bulgaria Fund
The new Bulgaria Fund, also located in Belgrade, is a 3-year, $3-million grantmaking initiative of the United States Agency for International Development and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Created in 2007, it continues the USAID reform agenda in Bulgaria.
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NATO's future discussed as 60th anniversary approaches
On March 3, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Center for Transatlantic Relations at John Hopkins University hosted a conference launching the joint report "Alliance Reborn: An Atlantic Compact for the 21st Century" highlighting the state of NATO and the future transatlantic relationship in light of its 60th anniversary. The report stressed that NATO, the institution of "political minds" and "military means," is in need of a new strategic mandate, and the current political climate has shifted such that now is the time to make this change. |
Situation at the Crossroads in Bosnia and Herzegovina
On February 25, The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) hosted Dr. Raffi Gregorian, the Acting High Representative of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), to discuss the current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Dr. Gregorian, who has been at the center of international governance in BiH for the past two years, gave a detailed analysis of the conditions leading up to today's current challenges, as well as his estimation of the direction the country is moving. Ambassador Douglas Davidson, GMF Distinguished Visiting Fellow, moderated the discussion. |
Transatlantic Cities Network Study Tour to Belgrade and Turin
From January 28 to February 5, the GMF Comparative Domestic Policy (CDP) program led a study tour and workshop for 20 Transatlantic Cities Network (TCN) representatives to Belgrade, Serbia, and Turin, Italy. The tour began in Belgrade, where the TCN representatives participated in meetings, briefings, and site visits designed by the Balkan Trust for Democracy to provide a context for understanding the particular systemic challenges that the city of Belgrade is facing. From Belgrade, the group traveled to Torino, where they spent two days learning about the city’s strategy for urban transformation, developed in the mid-1990s and still undergoing implementation today. |
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