The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption will check the funding of DUI (The Democratic Union for Integration) after the non-governmental “Transparency International-Macedonia” announced suspicious donations to Ali Ahmeti’s party. According to the organization, “Macedonian Post”, “Airports of Macedonia” and “Macedonian Railways-Infrastructure” appear on the list of donors of DUI for the last year, […]

The government-proposed changes to the law on integrity and prevention of corruption passed the first reading in parliament on Tuesday despite much criticism. The changes are to boost efforts to prevent corruption by making the anti-graft commission more efficient. The bill defines more clearly the tasks and procedures of the Commission for the Prevention of […]

Minister of Interior Fatmir Xhafaj said that a bill on State Police vetting is designed to check the moral integrity, professional and personal background and fire to fire all individuals involved in corruption affairs, crime, or being professionally incompetent in performing duties they are tasked with. Presenting the draft law on Vetting of State Police, […]

Reporters on corruption and organised crime in the Balkans are subject to a range of different pressures and challenges – as our comparison of reporting on such cases in Bosnia, Kosovo* and Serbia shows. Organised crime and corruption are among the key challenges facing the societies of the Western Balkans, with corruption in particular being […]

Macedonia’s Public Procurement Bureau director Gjorgji Georgievski introduced a new law on public procurement aimed at preventing corruption. Speaking at the first public debate on the new draft-law on public procurement, Georgievski said that the law was drafted in cooperation with the World Bank and aimed at including red flags in the e-public procurement system, […]

Adriatik Llalla on Wednesday became the first known Albanian official to be banned from entering the US for suspected involvement in ‘significant corruption’. The US State Department on Wednesday announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had “designated” Adriatik Llalla, 49, and his family as corrupt foreign officials, thereby banning Llalla from entering the country. […]

New Anti-corruption and Forfeiture of Assets Act (AFAA) entered into force in Bulgaria, replacing two existing pieces of legislation – the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Act, and the Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Assets Act. In addition, the AFAA creates a single commission to enforce the law from the various commissions that existed before. Definition of […]

The chief prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi has told a debate on public procurement corruption on Wednesday that “the corruption issue will not be solved only by arresting defendants and obtaining convictions, but if the prosecutors’ effort is dubbed by prevention actions”. Kovesi pointed out that, although the crimes’ approach […]

TIRANA, Albania — Albania’s government is looking to clear out the bad apples among its police force. A draft law that the government approved Wednesday calls for the vetting of Albania’s 13,000 police officers. Deputy Interior Minister Julian Hodaj said that authorities want to look at the officers’ professional and personal backgrounds in order “to […]

The European Commission’s new strategy for the Western Balkans holds out the prospect that two countries from the region, Serbia and Montenegro, could “potentially” be ready to join the EU by 2025. It also offers increased support for the four other would-be members from the region that was engulfed by war and civil strife in […]