TRANSPARENCY AS A BASIS FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE: THE 2024 REGIONAL REPORT OF THE BALKAN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER NETWORK (BIRN) PRESENTED

In the organization of the Balkan Investigative Reporters Network (BIRN), on June 30, 2025, the online event “The state of free access to information in the Western Balkans – Review for 2024” was held. The Austrian Development Agency supported the event, and Plamenka Bojcheva, Director of the Agency for the Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information, participated in it. Investigative journalists, who utilize this right in their work, shared and exchanged their experiences, as did representatives of related institutions from all six countries in the region that are part of this network. Practical experiences related to the appeal procedure, supervisory mechanisms, and the implementation of the right to free access to public information were shared.

The focus was on BIRN’s annual report for 2024, which showed that despite the existence of a solid legal framework, the administration’s silence, as well as its disregard for the public’s right to know, remain serious obstacles to this fundamental democratic and constitutionally guaranteed right. The participants, after the presentation of the Report, discussed the challenges and opportunities for transparent management in the countries of the region. In some countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, every third request remains unanswered; that is, journalists encounter silence from the administration. On the other hand, North Macedonia and Serbia demonstrate progress in the institutions’ ability to act on submitted requests within the legally prescribed deadlines. For the second consecutive year, according to the BIRN report, North Macedonia ranks among the best countries in the region in terms of implementing free access to public information.

The director of the Agency, Plamenka Bojcheva, in her address to the present participants, emphasized that:

Digital tools should be used for greater proactive transparency of institutions.

That transparency is not only a legal obligation, but also a management culture and

When institutions are transparent and open, trust grows, and the risk of abuse decreases.

The message to citizens and institutions is clear:

“Ask, get informed, seek insight – that’s the way to mature, responsible, and trustworthy governance.”

Director Bojcheva ended her address with the message:

“Transparency is not just an administrative obligation – it is a decision to rule with citizens, not over them. It is the path to mature, responsible, and trustworthy governance.”