THE ADMINISTRATION’S SILENCE REMAINS THE MAIN OBSTACLE TO TRANSPARENCY
The Agency for the Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information has prepared a semi-annual analysis for the period January-June 2025, with a focus on the silence of the administration as a serious and recurring phenomenon that threatens the transparency of the institutions.
In the first six months of 2025, a total of 333 appeals were submitted to the Agency, of which as many as 234 (70.27%) refer to the administration’s silence, that is, failure to act on requests for information within the legally prescribed deadline. The trend of a high percentage of appeals due to silence has been repeated for the fifth year in a row, which indicates an entrenched institutional passivity and lack of accountability of information holders.
Among the institutions with the most appeals due to silence are:
- Ministry of Finance,
- Municipality of Dolneni,
- City of Skopje,
- Municipality of Karposh,
- Ministry of Health,
- Municipality of Ohrid, and
- Chair Municipality.
The analysis reveals that many institutions respond to requests only after the Agency intervenes, thereby increasing the administrative burden and delaying access to information—a fundamental constitutional and democratic right.
The data for the last five years show a stable but unacceptable trend: the silence of the administration accounts for 60–80% of all appeals annually, which undermines trust in public institutions and complicates civil control mechanisms.
The report also contains:
- Detailed data analysis,
- Examples of holders who usually do not act within the legal deadline,
- Identified reasons for the silence, and
- Specific recommendations to institutions for improving access to information.
The administration’s silence must not be a tolerated practice – it represents a violation of the citizens’ right to be informed, but also a serious obstacle to good governance.
You can find the analysis at the following link:
