Rights organizations have spotted a dramatic spike in the number of pardons issued by Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic every time general elections are scheduled – and some have demanded his resignation. Montenegrin president Filip Vujanovic | Photo: www.predsjednik.me Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic has been accused of abusing his authority and the law on pardons – […]

Romania’s anti-corruption drive is hitting more and more of the country’s media moguls – a large number of whom are now already in jail or facing major corruption charges. Many media moguls are investigated for corruption charges. Photo: rfi.ro. The detention this week of the owner of Romania’s main media company, Adevarul Holding, Cristian Burci, is […]

Police in Kosovo arrested six people as part of an investigation into an alleged land scam that cost the state 30 million euros ($34 million), European Union investigators said on Wednesday. Azem Syla, a prominent legislator from the ruling party, was the alleged leader of the fraud which is believed to have involved 40 people, […]

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), Thorbjørn Jagland, has said that human rights, democracy and security are threatened across Europe. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland (L) shakes hands with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev (L) during a visit to Sofia, 12 October 2015. Photo by BGNES “Europe is currently struggling with […]

Former Deputy Parliament Speaker Hristo Biserov is to appear before court again on Thursday to face charges of tax evasion. He is also to be tried again for undeclared currency deals and undeclared bank accounts held in Switzerland. Hristo Biserov, Bulgaria’s former Deputy Parliament Speaker. File photo, BGNES Last year the Sofia City Court found him […]

The fierce attack launched by the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate on the Foreign Intelligence Service is seen as pointing to a serious inter-institutional conflict in Romania. The chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the DNA, Laura Codruta Kovesi, on Tuesday accused Romania’s Foreign Intelligence Service, SIE, of not sending the DNA […]

Freedom House report says media freedom in the Balkan region is in decline – with the fast decline noted in Serbia and Macedonia. Map showing media freedoms in Europe. Photo: Freedom House website. A new report by the US-based watchdog Freedom House, published on Wednesday, raises fresh concerns about the state of the media in […]

The mayor of Baia Mare Catalin Chereches was taken in for questioning by the anticorruption prosecutors after he was allegedly caught red handed while taking a bribe in a sting operation organized by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) on Tuesday, April 26. The charges against Chereches include bribery and embezzlement and are related to the […]

Institutions have highlighted today that corruption in Kosovo is widespread. The first to report before the Committee on Legislation, Mandates, Regulation and Supervision was the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Hasan Preteni. Preteni highlighted as a big problem the non-declaration of property and false declaration. But, according to him another problem is the public procurement. […]

A new survey has shown that tolerance to corruption among Bulgarian citizens is very low but only one out of 10 believes it is very likely for an official to be convicted on corruption charges in the country, bTV reported on Monday.     Just 2% of 1,000 respondents polled by Exacta Research Group state […]