The increasing prevalence of illiberalism, often accompanied by anti-European rhetoric, presents a significant threat to the EU. While most of the related research has focused on Poland and Hungary, it has overlooked the emergence of illiberal tendencies in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, and Italy. The EU-funded SOS4democracy project seeks to establish an alliance aimed at developing effective training programmes for studying the recent surge of authoritarian practices in south-eastern Europe and beyond. This project will create a training-through-research initiative for researchers, journalists, and activists to examine the impact of illiberal policies. The academic sector will provide training in research methods and practical skills, news media organisations will focus on media-related topics, and NGOs will cover civic monitoring mechanisms, advocacy, and technology usage.
