The Annual Meeting of the Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection, hosted by the Coalition member Civic Alliance Montenegro took place on March 21, 2024 in Podgorica, Montenegro.
The event brough together the coalition members from the Southeast Europe (SEE), representatives from state and public institutions in Montenegro, and other key figures from civil society in the field of whistleblowing and anti-corruption. The meeting was opened by introductory remarks, a motivational speech, and the delivery of the Free Speech Awards of the Coalition.
The Coalition is actively advocating for the Transposition of the EU 2019/1937 Directive on Whistleblower Protection into national laws in the SEE by taking a supportive approach and highlighting the benefits of this process.
During his opening address, Mr. Riccardo Serri, Deputy Head of the Delegation of European Union to Montenegro noted that the role of whistleblowers is more important than ever as they are key actors in the anti-corruption chain. Mr. Serri also highlighted that, in addition to good national laws, it is also crucial to create enabling environment for whistleblowers.
Mr. Nikola Naumovski, RAI Senior anti-corruption Advisor said that RAI Secretariat has been supportive of the work of the Coalition since its establishment, in recognition of the importance of collaboration between the government and the non-governmental sector in effectively protecting whistleblowers.
RAI’s activities related to whistleblowing were intensified with the implementation of the regional EU funded ‘Breaking the Silence: Enhancing Whistleblowing Policies and Culture in the Western Balkans and Moldova’ Project aimed at promoting the whistleblowing protection and disclosure channels and increasing the public awareness, especially among youth, about the importance of whistleblowing and enhancing the corrective role of the CSO in all these processes. During the project implementation, RAI, among other things, supported the annual meetings of the Coalition as a platform for discussion of common challenges, strategies, and solutions for improving the protection of whistleblowers, and how to best utilize the SEE Coalition resources, and conducted a Gap Analysis of Whistleblower Protection Laws in the Western Balkans and Moldova, which examined whether and to what extent EU Directive standards are incorporated in whistleblower protection laws of the target jurisdictions.
The Southeast Europe Coalition for Whistleblower Protection, established in 2015 with RAI support, is the world’s first regional civil society initiative dedicated to enhancing whistleblower rights and protections, and promoting whistleblowing as an effective anti-corruption tool.
The annual meetings of the Coalition are also an opportunity to celebrate success and capture lessons learned and serve the purpose of strengthening the SEE Coalition, membership expansion and diversification.