15-17 June, 2021, Pristina: Meetings with Kosovo* authorities with a role in whistleblower protection

During the visit to Pristina, from June 15-17, RAI Secretariat representative Ms. Elmerina Ahmetaj Hrelja, Project Manager – Anticorruption Expert of the EU funded project ‘Breaking the Silence: Enhancing Whistleblowing Policies and Culture in the Western Balkans and Moldova’ (hereinafter: the Project) held meetings with Mr. Shaip Havolli, the Director of the Anticorruption Agency of Kosovo^*  and representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Kosovo*, Ms. Feride Podvorica, Head of the Division for the Oversight of the Implementation of Legislation, Legal Support and Cross-Institutional Cooperation in the area of Legislation and Ms. Noliana Kusari Senior Legal Officer of the Legal Department – Division for Legislative Drafting and Harmonization.

At meetings, the current status of activities of the Project was discussed and future collaboration was agreed upon. Collocutors agreed that whistleblowing is instrumental in the prevention and fight against corruption and that institutional capacity building and public education are key to the enforcement of whistleblowing in Kosovo*.

Finally, Mr. Shaip Havolli, the Director of the Anticorruption Agency of Kosovo* participated in the RAI Secretariat guerrilla event held on June 10, 2021, by delivering a media statement alongside the representative of the RAI Secretariat. The guerrilla event was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Kosovo*, the EU Delegation to Kosovo*, CoE/EU Project against Economic Crime III, and UNDP Support to Anti-Corruption Efforts in Kosovo* (SAEK) III.

The aim of the guerrilla event was to raise public awareness about the damage caused by corruption and the importance of the contribution of each citizen to the fight against corruption, including through whistleblowing as the most efficient mechanism in preventing, detecting, and investigating corruption. 

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration on Independence