Employee Reinstated in Bulgaria Following Civil Society Protests
SOFIA – One of two employees fired from Sofia’s National Art Gallery for criticizing government policy has been reinstated following large demonstrations and public calls for Bulgaria’s Culture Minister to resign.
Growing Pains: Kosovo’s Media Struggles for Freedom and Legitimacy
Newly minted and taking examples from democracies way west of its borders, Kosovo’s Constitution has the ingredients to perform what it endeavors to do. In practice, though, it falls short of ensuring that the country’s many laws promising good governance work on the ground.
National TV Show Breaks Silence on Whistleblowing in Albania
Whistleblowing is so rare and obscure in Albania that even when Parliament voted unanimously for a comprehensive whistleblower protection law on June 2, the breakthrough barely made a ripple.
The Whistleblower’s Best Friend: An Inside View of Bosnia’s Revolutionary Whistleblower Protection System
Bosnia and Herzegovina made history in 2014, becoming the first country in the world to develop a whistleblower protection system designed to protect whistleblowers before workplace retaliation gets out of control, and without the need to go to court to exercise their rights.
Croatian Activists Defend Media Independence as Right-Wing Government Collapses
In 150 days of power, the center-right, coalition-led government has expressed early and worrying Orbanesque signs of interference with fundamental societal freedoms.
Captured News Media in Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro
Political and business elites have gained control over many public and private media outlets in Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro -- mostly through non-transparent privatization, and advertising and budgetary support to loyal media. Consequently, media freedoms and freedom of expression in these countries are seriously impaired, as evidenced by the declining
Activists in Croatia Unite to Defend Media Freedoms
In response to a crackdown on media freedom, a coalition of NGOs including GONG (a Coalition member), Center for Peace Studies, Human Rights House Zagreb, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and Blueprint for Free Speech has launched a public campaign to defend freedom of expression. Public funding for certain non-profit
Macedonia Passes Strong Whistleblower Protections
Three years after it was first proposed, a comprehensive whistleblower law was passed by the Assembly of Macedonia in November 2015. The law represents another step in the country’s efforts to join the EU, for which it has been a candidate since 2005. The Law on Whistleblowers’ Protection, first suggested
Coalition-improved WBer Law Passes in Albania
Marking a major step forward in the fight against crime and corruption, the Albanian Parliament on June 2 passed a whistleblower protection law covering employees in the public and private sectors. Albania now joins Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia among Southeast European countries with designated whistleblower legislation. The
Albania: A Demand for New Whistleblower Rights
The Institute for Democracy and Mediation, a Coalition member, successfully lobbied for the passage of Albania’s first whistleblower protection law. The law provides retaliation protection for government and company employees. The Institute and the Coalition provided extensive comments on the draft law, improving it significantly and ensuring that many international
