May 5 - Reclaim Civic Space
May 5 - Reclaim Civic Space.
See here what happened in Berlin, Mainz, Munich and Lisbon
On the 5th of May, European May set to highlight the always more shrinking civic space all over Europe. Therefore, the actions exemplarily showed how European governments are systematically taking on our liberties and reclaim civic spaces for us.
The European May wants to send out the message that Governments are systematically shrinking the space in which civil society can act in order to establish always more authoritarian patterns.
Civil Society engagement is crucial when it comes to a strong democracy. More than never before, civil society actors are under pressure. As European May we will come together all over Europe to show how connected, powerful and ready to reclaim Civil Society actors from everywhere are.
Action 1: Take political hostages!
On May 5th European May want took symbolic figures as political prisoners and labeled them with messages that fit the European May narrative.
Action 2: Close down public buildings!
European May closed down public buildings rather symbolically while minimalizing the risk of legal prosecution. This action was done in order to highlight the arbitrary pressure being put on civil society by many governments around Europe. This concrete action was inspired by Viktor Órban and his government closing the Central European University for political reasons.
