Albania’s interior ministry says law enforcement staff will be vetted in the next two years as part of an effort to clean up the police. Fighting organized crime and especially drug trafficking is a key challenge for Albania. The country has been a NATO member since 2009 and was granted European Union candidate status in 2014, hoping to launch membership negotiations […]

The European Union urged Bosnia on Wednesday to amend a law that targets crime and corruption and bring it in line with international standards, warning that failure to do so would hinder the country’s progress towards the EU membership. Last week, Bosnia’s authorities handed down to European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker a completed questionnaire on […]

Today, a series of investigations published by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have detailed how citizenship- and residence-by-investment schemes, commonly referred to as ‘Golden Visa’ programmes, are vulnerable to abuse and undermine the fight against corruption in the European Union and neighbouring countries. The stories show how European countries are selling access to the […]

The Appeal Court in Timisoara, Romania, is set to rule on a graft case involving a former police chief and a former judge who failed to declare that they were Freemasons. A court in the western Romanian city of Timisoara is set to rule in an unusual and unprecedented corruption case involving a former chief […]

Serbia’s leading politicians are no strangers to being probed for their illicit wealth and shady financial dealings. Yet despite investigation after investigation by journalists and anti-corruption watchdogs (accompanied by page after page of evidence), the country’s prosecutors have shown a remarkable disinterest in taking action. Man passes by Serbia’s high court in Belgrade, Serbia November […]

Albanian lawmakers have passed a law to screen police officers in a bid to clamp down on corruption and links to organised crime, an important part of EU-required judiciary reform. The law was approved late Monday as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was touring the Balkan countries that aspire to join the European Union. A […]

135 of the 183 prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) have shown their support for the DNA chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi in the recent scandal that led to the justice minister’s decision to request her dismissal. Moreover, the prosecutors said the minister’s request is based on untruths, assumptions, and unverified press information. The […]

Corruption remains at high levels in both health sector and education as a result of the lack of political willingness in higher institutions. This was the conclusion of the next roundtable organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo* titled “Corruption in Health and Education”, supported by UNDP’s Project, Support to Anti-Corruption Efforts in […]

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said on February 23 that he stands by the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi. The government and the ruling coalition want to dismiss Kovesi over alleged misconduct within the agency, which they said resulted in abuses. Iohannis’ refusal to dismiss Kovesi — the final decision rests […]

The presentation of a report compiled by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina titled Trial Monitoring of Corruption Cases in BiH: A First Assessment brought together over 100 representatives of the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) today in Sarajevo.  The report was developed within the framework of the […]