Government information

Freedom of Information, FOI, Laws in the Western Balkans are over a decade old. Even though almost all countries monitored by BIRN have laws that are considered well-written, their value is often only on paper, speakers from the region told BIRN's panel discussion, "Freedom of Information in the Balkans: Calls Not Answered".

The region needs more proactive transparency, open contracting and political will to deal with freedom of information, FOI, speakers from the region and internationally told BIRN's panel discussion Platform B: Freedom of Information in the Balkans, held on Thursday.

Both the institutions and those requesting information say that for now, problems are often solved in mutual agreements that allow for a delay of a few days, enabling institutions to cope.

North Macedonia's law on freedom of access to public information does not envisage what should happen to such rights in extraordinary situations like this one.

Montenegrin government session due to COVID-19. Photo: Government of Montenegro

More than 50 civic organizations, journalists and media organizations warned that the lockdown had made participatory debate almost impossible.

Media regulations across the region have been tightened under states of emergency and journalists have been arrested on accusations of spreading misinformation concerning the response of authorities to the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

Some countries have sought to centralise the dissemination of official information and banned certain media from regular briefings. 

Between January 2017 and June 2019, BIRN journalists submitted 854 official requests to access public documents in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. With the aid of the information gained from these requests, BIRN produced numerous investigative pieces and so exposed wrongdoing by governments, companies and powerful individuals.

Macedonian political parties will have a harder time keeping their finances out of the public eye if the country, as planned, soon adopts a new law on public information access that would get rid of many legal loopholes allowing parties to keep such data hidden.

Montenegro is moving to reform its Freedom of Information Act, increasing the penalties and the number of offences that can be sanctioned for violating the law on public records.

Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic has filed an amendment to the Bill on Investments relating to access to information of public importance in the field of investment.

The amendment envisages that access to this information is realized in accordance with the law regulating free access to information of public importance.

Serbia’s Commissioner for Information of Public Interest warned that the draft Law on Investments would give the government the right to deny access to information about state projects.