Western Balkans Have Yet to Embrace Freedom of Information

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A new BIRN report shows that Liberal-sounding access to information laws – vital for a free media – have yet to bring real transparency to the traditionally secretive countries of the Balkan region. With the aid of the information gained from 854 official requests to access public documents, submitted between January 2017 and June 2019, BIRN produced numerous investigative pieces and so exposed wrongdoing by governments, companies and powerful individuals. On the basis of these requests, BIRN has also published an in-depth analysis of institutions’ openness to FOI requests across the countries of the WB. This shows that while Freedom of Information laws in the region are among the most liberal in Europe on paper, implementation of these laws is well below European standards. Read more here.

Source: Balkan Insight

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