Kosovo Whistleblower Lifts Lid on Huge Tax Scam
PRISHTINA – Government staffer Murat Mehmeti blew the whistle on a massive tax scam involving shell companies that his bosses in Kosovo’s Tax Administration notably failed to follow up. Details of the major fraud were revealed on November 17 by the Kosovo bureau of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).
Montenegro: Close to the EU – Far from Media Freedom
PODGORICA – As Western Balkan countries progress toward European Union membership, media freedoms are weakening while attacks on journalists are ever more violent and overt.
Macedonia: Time to Uphold New Whistleblower Rights
After a lengthy debate, Macedonia’s Assembly passed a whistleblower protection law in November 2015. Attention has now turned to making sure that employees and citizens will benefit from the rights and protections enshrined in the Law on Whistleblowers’ Protection. So far, the process is not off to an auspicious start.
Bulgarian Police Case Serves a Reminder: Whistleblowers Need Legal Protections
SOFIA – Konstantin Ivanov does not want to talk to journalists anymore. “I am fed up with media publicity,” he told a friend who approached him with an interview request on behalf of the Southeast Europe Coalition for Whistleblower Protection.
Activist Notebook Kiev: “Please do not harass the Ambassador”
By Mark Worth Coalition Co-coordinator KIEV – Marie Yovanovitch was surrounded by bodyguards, colleagues and friends as she left the conference room with her head down and wriggled through the crowd in hopes of reaching the elevator without answering the question. The US Ambassador to Ukraine acknowledged today that last
Milka Tadić-Mijović and the Challenge of the Tendentious Balkan Op-Ed
“No, no, I only won the libel case in Serbia. It’ll be a long time before I win in Montenegro,” Milka Tadić-Mijović tells me with a subtle scoff at the speed at which legal processes unfold in the Balkans.
Kosovo: The Republic without Whistleblowers
PRISHTINA – In one of her final speeches as President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga requested the county’s top judicial officials to pay more attention to whistleblowers –
Whistleblowers in Kosovo Struggle for Protection
PRISHTINA – Though Kosovo’s Assembly passed a whistleblower protection law in 2011 that includes many international standards, some employees who have
On a Mission: A message from Coalition founding member Ana Novaković
Ana Novaković, Executive Director of the Center for Development of Non-Governmental Organizations in Montenegro, introduces the Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection.
‘The Invoice’: Whistleblower in Montenegro Sacked after Exposing Questionable Government Payment
PODGORICA – In a rare case of whistleblower retaliation that has boiled to the surface in Montenegro, a hotel employee was fired in June after exposing how a government agency paid the hotel bill for a political party.
