The worrying global trend of shrinking space for democracy and civil society necessitates a critical reevaluation, even within established democracies. While the urgency of the issue may at first appear less pronounced in a Western context, recent trends suggest a worrying similarity within the EU, particularly when it comes to the future of civil society organizations. This research delves into the potential effects and perceptions of recent changes in Swedish aid policy on civil society organizations. It examines how these changes may affect civil society autonomy, ownership, and overall effectiveness of development cooperation. The study considers the perspectives of civil society organizations using discourse analysis to understand their reasoning and concerns. Kingdon’s policy streams approach is used to provide valuable insights into the policy processes and by examining how CSOs experience access to civic space, how coping responses and autonomy evolve within our own political climate, we can discover potential parallels to experiences where the civil society is impeded. Should such parallels exist, especially with regard to a potential, albeit unlikely, similar experience in Sweden, proactive measures could be identified. Despite the complexities surrounding studying an ongoing phenomenon, this study finds (1) that there is a sense of negativity, especially among civil society groups, about the recent changes in development practices, (2) these changes might break established international agreements and make it harder for these groups to function effectively, (3) the uncertainty surrounding these changes is causing a lot of disruption and makes it difficult for civil society to know how to adapt, and (4) this uncertainty could potentially be a sign that civil society will have less freedom to operate in the future, and we need to be watchful to prevent that from happening.