Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation
The German Marshall Fund of the United States
A Unique Approach to Democracy in the Black Sea Region
BST works to spur virtuous cycles that span capacity building and funding for civil society, the cultivation of democratic leadership across sectors, the empowerment of democratic actors to engage in advocacy and policy efforts, and the establishment of sustainable regional networks. This integrated approach enables democratic actors to effectively address the many challenges facing the Black Sea region.
The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST) was established in 2007. It is dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance, human rights and the rule of law, regional dialogue and cooperation, and stability and security across the Black Sea region. It provides comprehensive support to democratic actors in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Türkiye, and Ukraine. Through direct funding and capacity building, BST enables civil society to strengthen democratic processes, accountable institutions, and social cohesion, to engage in
conflict management and resolution, to nurture cross-border ties in the region, and to work toward Euro-Atlantic integration. BST supports and amplifies regional perspectives on key challenges facing Black Sea countries, and provides a platform for dialogue, policy, and strategy at the European and transatlantic level. Based at the GMF office in Bucharest, Romania, and managed by a diverse team of regional experts, BST has long been supported by numerous partners and funders from Europe and the United States.
Civil Society Support
BST supports civil society across the Black Sea region through a combination of grantmaking and capacity building. It does so with flexible and responsive funding, tailor-made training and mentoring for grantees, and opportunities for cross-border exchanges and learning among civic actors.
Grantmaking prioritizes citizen participation, democratic governance, capacity building for civic initiatives, emergency assistance in crisis situations, and the fight against malign influences and disinformation. BST provides up to 100 individual grants to civil society organizations per year.
1,268 Organizations 1,719 Projects $ 39 Million in Grantmaking Across the Region 8 Countries 18 Years
www.gmfus.org/democracy-work/black-sea-trust-regional-cooperation
Policy and Advocacy
Strengthening dialogue and cooperation across the Black Sea region and with the Euro-Atlantic community is at the core of BST’s policy and advocacy efforts. These serve to systematically elevate regional challenges, possible solutions, and regional expertise to policymakers and publics across Europe and the United States. BST regularly organizes and supports major policy forums, targeted expert debates, topical study tours, and contributions to regional and global media. Key issues addressed by BST outreach include elections, democratic backsliding, malign influences and disinformation, and regional security.
84 Regional & International Convenings
30 45 Policy Debates 57 Policy Publications Study Tours 25 Media Engagements
Leadership Development
BST understands that democracy and security in the Black Sea region also require a new quality of leadership. Consequently, it invests substantially in shaping the next generation of democratic leaders in the region. Multiple programs are open to participants ranging from the mid-career and cross-sectoral Marshall Memorial Fellowship to opportunities for early-career policy experts and inclusion leaders. BST supports individuals in honing their leadership and professional skills, sharing knowledge with peers, and building networks and cooperation across the region as well as in Europe and the United States.
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As a result, leaders find themselves better equipped to represent their communities and constituencies, and to contribute effectively to development, peace, and prosperity in their countries and the Black Sea region.
Major Policy Forums
• GMF-Aspen Bucharest Forum
• The Odesa Debate
• Kyiv Security Forum
• Yalta European Strategy
• Warsaw Security Forum
• International Black Sea Symposium
• Tbilisi International Conference
BST Impact Highlights
BST strengthens citizen participation across the Black Sea region
between Armenia and Romania, and it broadened the understanding among students of the South Caucasus and the Black Sea regions. 24 lectures in Bucharest, a Spring School in Yerevan, and an international symposium engaged nearly 130 students. This project demonstrated powerfully how regional connections can effectively strengthen learning and inspiration, shared histories, and democratic aspirations.
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOU(TH) was developed by Expert Forum Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic. This platform aims to elevate the voices of young people from Moldova and Romania. It has so far engaged over 450 teenagers from both countries to speak about the most pressing issues they, their peers, and their communities face. Taking the form of a public-speaking competition, this program has now been adopted by several schools and communities.
CITIZENS ACT is a project of the Institute for Rural Initiatives in Moldova. It inspired a new form of citizen participation in five rural communities by involving over 1,000 citizens in developing and monitoring local budgets. The project supported local civil society and state administration in working together, for the first time, to conduct transparent budget analysis and planning.
The EXPANDING ARMENIA-ROMANIA DIALOGUE THROUGH ACADEMIC EXCHANGE project fostered ties
BST bolsters civic oversight of democratic processes and institutions
BST supports independent media and counters disinformation
Faced with a shrinking landscape of independent media in Türkiye, the MEDIA RESEARCH ASSOCIATION trained 68 participants from local media organizations and civil society, including freelance reporters, citizen journalists, and university students, to develop publication strategies and to produce 70 pieces of news about their local communities .
The LVIV GROUP works to investigate and prevent the misuse of public funding at the local level in Ukraine. It has published over 80 articles, read by over 1.4 million people, on corruption schemes and public spending in the Lviv region. Following appeals by the Lviv Group, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine opened special investigations into suspected corruption in the cities of Novodnistrovsk and Kivertsi.
WATCHDOG.MD, in partnership with Ukrainian Core and Ukrainian Prism, launched an investigation of different Russian elite groups that are part of an intense hybrid assault on Moldova. It produced six reports for domestic and international stakeholders and 23 newsletters to inform the public in Moldova. A two-day debate with Moldovan and Ukrainian experts in Odesa developed joint proposals to counter Russian influence and to resolve the conflict in Transnistria.
www.gmfus.org/democracy-work/black-sea-trust-regional-cooperation
Investigative Journalism for Energy Security is a project led by WORLD EXPERIENCE FOR GEORGIA that focuses on promoting journalistic oversight and truthful reporting on the energy sector. Over six months, the project trained 68 journalists on issues of energy security, resulting in 20 compelling and quality reports. Besides their broad circulations, the reports also highlighted threats to regional energy security for a discussion at an international conference.
BST provides emergency support in response to regional crises
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Romania’s ASOCIATIA NEVO PARUDIMOS and its partners from Moldova and Ukraine built a network of 40 civil society organizations to evacuate more than 5,000 Roma refugees.
Let’s Talk about You(th) competition poster, Expert Forum Romania
Armenia at the Crossroads. International Symposium, Bucharest, 2024
Workshop for local journalists, Media Research Association
Besides direct support for evacuees, the network gathered detailed information about the needs and human rights violations faced by the Roma community and other vulnerable groups in Ukraine. As Armenians were forcibly displaced during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, ARMENIAN PROGRESSIVE YOUTH assisted 1,584 refugees with food, clothing, psycho-social services, legal aid, and entry to the labor market. The organization engaged key stakeholders such as UNICEF to ensure the protection of refugee children and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to ensure targeted assistance for displaced families.
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolved, FUNKY CITIZENS suspected major irregularities in public procurement in Romania’s health sector. The group launched the whistleblowing app De Gardă (On Guard) for healthcare workers to report irregularities for further investigation
BST Donor Contributors
United States Agency for International Development
European Commission, DG ENEST
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Latvia
MacArthur Foundation
by journalists. The project led to the publication by the Ministry of Health of aggregated data about the pandemic and vaccination rates. De Gardă was also adopted in Moldova where it helped to uncover the purchase of overpriced equipment with EU funding.
BST strengthens regional and Euro-Atlantic dialogue and cooperation
The ASPEN-GMF BUCHAREST FORUM has taken place, with BST support and in partnership with the Aspen Institute Romania, since 2013. This flagship event for the Black Sea region annually hosts over 300 policymakers, government representatives, experts, academics, and civic activists. It is a bridge between the Black Sea and transatlantic communities, and it amplifies regional challenges, expertise, and perspectives.
The ENLARGEMENT HUB works to advance the EU integration of Moldova and Ukraine . It is a partnership of BST with the European University Institute, Central European University, and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In 2023, BST hosted a founding workshop, featuring 10 academic papers, that focused on EU commitments to further integration and enlargement, the financing of Ukraine’s reconstruction, and support for EU allies in Eastern Europe.
German Marshall Fund of the United States
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
KfW Development Bank, Federal Government of Germany Government of Romania
Robert Bosch Stiftung
Rockefeller Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Porticus
Workshop on labor market integration, Armenian Progressive Youth
Inaugural workshop of the Enlargement Hub, office of the Black Sea
“De Garda” App Avatar, Funky Citizens
