A high-level conference on raising awareness on gender inequalities and corruption took place on 10 December 2021, in hybrid format in Tirana. Organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania, the event marked the end of Integrity Week in Albania, which raised awareness of the opportunities that gender-specific approaches to fighting corruption offer to boost socio-economic
Political commitment to fully implement electoral legislation in good faith is a basic element of a successful elections and a successful electoral reform requires broad consensus, extensive public consultations with all relevant stakeholders, dialogue and loyal co-operation of all actors” – was one of the conclusions of the Conference “Campaign finance, (mis)use of public administration resources
The governments of the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to enlargement while stressing that the rule of law continues to be one of the “main challenges” to accession for the Western Balkans. On Monday, European ministers meet in the General Affairs Council where they unanimously approved the Council’s conclusions on enlargement. The conclusions confirmed that
Yuri Kim was nominated US Ambassador in Albania in late 2019 and started her diplomatic mission in January 2020. In less than two years, she has become a controversial and well-known figure, constantly appearing on the front page of newspapers and portals and even on talk shows in the country. She has been a strong
Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandar Vulin has denied the Recak massacre in which Serbian troops killed 45 Albanian villagers in Kosovo on January 15, 1999. A statement published on the ministry’s website explained that Vulin visited the set of a documentary on the Kosovo War financed by the Serbian government that denies the massacre
The U.S. administration has targeted 11 Kosovo Serbs and 24 entities under their ownership, blocking all their properties in the United States due to their involvement in corruption and serious human rights abuses. The organized crime group targeted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is led by Zvonko
Defamation should be removed from all OSCE member states criminal law statutes to prevent legal instruments from being used to harass, intimidate, and silence journalists, according to an OSCE special report on ‘Legal Harassment and Abuse of the Judicial System Against the Media.’ The report states that “authorities could move defamation from criminal law to
The US Senate has confirmed Jeffrey Hovenier as the new US Ambassador to Kosovo. President Joe Biden nominated Hovenier for the post in July as former Ambassador’s Philip Kosnett’s successor. Ambassador Hovenier has worked on matters related to Kosovo since after the 1999 war. He was part of the staff of the UN Special Envoy
The Steering Council of the Albanian national broadcaster, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), has announced four candidates to lead the institution. Previous director Thoma Gëllçi was arrested on charges of corruption earlier this year. Martin Leka temporarily holds the post of director. The proposed candidates are Enkelejd Joti, Iris Luarsi, Moza Haxhiaj and Laureta Roshi, who
Women journalists and politicians are more likely to experience online violence, and it is predominantly gendered and driven by toxic masculinity and misogynistic political rhetoric, according to a recent OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender report. While both men and women experience violence in politics and journalism, women are overwhelmingly targeted with sexual and gendered