Today, May 13, 2026, the first bilateral seminar with civil society organisations from Bulgaria and the donor countries was held within the framework of the EEA Civil Society Fund (CSF) in Bulgaria – the European Economic Area and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms’ new programme for civil society support.
“Unfortunately, civil society organisations in Bulgaria do not enjoy the same trust as civil society organisations in Norway. The level of trust is low, but you must know that the overall level of trust in Bulgaria is low—in public institutions, in the parliament, in the government. It is good to know, too, that nearly one third of the Bulgarian population knows nothing about civil society organisations. That means we have a problem with communication,” said Elitsa Markova, Institute Open Society – Sofia, in the opening part of the seminar.
Norway stands at the opposite end of the spectrum. Guri Idsø Viken from Frivillighet Norge, who presented the state of the civil society sector in Norway, emphasised that trust in civil society organisations there exceeds 90%. By comparison, trust in the Norwegian parliament is 72%, trust in the government is 65%, and trust in social media is only 10%.
“These organizations create a value that makes up about 4.5% of the gross national product. And we employ about 145,000 people in the voluntary sector, because many people are also employed in this sector to make it work”, Viken pointed out.
The participants in the seminar split into working groups, where they discussed topics including transparency, information integrity and data-based accountability; health, well-being, inclusion of people with disabilities and psychosocial support; access to justice, minority rights and migrant inclusion; child protection, prevention of gender-based violence and civic education; LGBTIQ+ rights, women’s rights and intersectional equality movements; public infrastructure and climate action.
The Civil Society Fund in Bulgaria amounts to more than EUR 23 million and is fully financed by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It represents the largest commitment made to date by the donor countries to civil society in Bulgaria. By the end of 2031, the Fund is expected to support more than 300 initiatives by civil society organisations.
The operator of the EEA Civil Society Fund in Bulgaria is a consortium of civil society organisations led by the Open Society Institute – Sofia, with the participation of the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation, the Trust for Social Achievement Foundation, and Civil Society Norway (Frivillighet Norge).
