Category: News and Events

BIRN Kosovo Holds Municipal Finances Debate in Vushtrri/Vucitrn

BIRN Kosovo held a town hall conference in the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn on September 29 to discuss the roles of Kosovo’s citizens and the National Audit Office in overseeing municipal revenues and expenses.

The debate, entitled ‘The Role of the Auditor and Citizens in Overseeing Municipal Revenues and Expenditures’, was the third to be organised within the framework of a project called ‘Promoting the Auditor General/NAO’s role in Kosovo’.

Supported by the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pristina, these town hall conferences are intended to examine the difficulties that municipalities face in collecting revenues and executing their budget. They also present the findings of the Auditor General, with a particular emphasis on those relating to public finances.

At the conference on Tuesday were the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Carin Lobbezoo, the mayor of the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn, Xhafer Tahiri, general auditor Besnik Osmani and the managing editor at KALLXO.com, Visar Prebreza, as well as a number of representatives from civil society and assembly members from the municipality. The conference was streamed live on BIRN’s anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

Ambassador Lobbezoo opened the session by stating that the embassy has supported this project because citizens should know how money is being spent by their elected representatives.

“Citizens need to know if their elected representatives are doing a good job for them and spending money properly,” Lobbezoo stated.

“That is why, through our project, we have supported BIRN and the role of the Auditor General in Kosovo.”

Issues surrounding procurement turned out to be the most problematic area in the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn. In the last four years, this municipality has received 19 recommendations from the NAO to address violations and irregularities in procurement, including seven recommendations in 2019 alone.

Prebreza presented the auditor’s findings in its 2019 report on the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn, explaining the areas in which the municipality has both succeeded and faltered.

He said that the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn is extremely good in terms of budget execution compared to other municipalities in the first six months of 2019.
General Auditor Besnik Osmani discussed NAO recommendations implemented by the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn.

“Before coming here, I read an action plan made by the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn to address these recommendations and it is very detailed, and contains both the responsibilities and the time periods for the implementation of the recommendations,” Osmani said.

However, the general auditor stressed that there is still a lot of work to be done.

Mayor Tahiri stated he would personally ensure that more recommendations are implemented.

“I promise that my team and I will send cases to the prosecutor’s office wherever we encounter a criminal offense,” Tahiri added.

Similar town hall conferences will be held in other municipalities in Kosovo with the aim of presenting BIRN’s analysis of the implementation of the auditor’s recommendations and public finances.

All of them will be held in municipal assembly halls, and will be livestreamed by BIRN Kosovo.

Thomson Media Advanced mobile journalism e-workshop in North Macedonia

Thomson Media announces call for participants for its advanced online workshops on mobile journalism.

Eligible participants are those who have completed Thomson Media , want to learn more tricks of the trade and produce high quality mobile journalism reports with support and mentoring from Thomson Media experts.

Join Aleksandar Mansiev and Kristina Ozimec for the free Thomson Media Advanced Mobile Journalism online workshop from 5 – 10, October. This practical, live online workshop will allow you to acquire advanced skills in mobile journalism and put them into practice in group and individual work with support of our trainers and mentors.

By the end of it you will be able to:

  • Employ the techniques to create powerful images using a smartphone
  • Acquire skills in making short videos and photo-stories using smartphones
  • Create content of relevance to and that engages audiences.
  • Use filming and editing apps suitable for IOS and/or android devices
  • Recognise the different formats needed for different social media platforms
  • Adapt material filmed on smartphones for different social media platforms.
  • Construct content to work effectively for viewing on smartphones.
  • Use acquired editorial skills to create balanced content.

Busy week? Not to worry: although the online workshop takes place over 5 days, it has been designed to allow you to attend specific group and individual sessions, which means that you will be able to get on with your work and personal life in between!

Tuesday, 06. 10: Participants have 4 hours of online training with breaks and an assignment (est. 3 hours).

Wednesday –  Friday: Participants work in groups: Group 1 session from 10:00 to 13:00 and Group 2 session from 14:00 to 17:00 (assignments of est. 3 hours)

Saturday, 10. 10: The last day is dedicated to individual editing and production focused sessions. Each participant works with a trainer for 30 – 45 minutes and spends the rest of the day editing his/her mobile journalism output. Our trainers will be available from 10:00 until 18:00 for individual sessions.

After the e-workshop: All participants will have an opportunity to consult our experts in the weeks after the online workshop as they produce high quality mobile journalism content and finalise it for publishing.

To apply, please fill in this . The application deadline is Sunday, 4 October, by 16h.

Please note that completing our basic 4-hour online course on mobile journalism is a prerequisite for participation in the online workshop. To enroll please visit 

For more information about our e-workshop course on mobile journalism please contact Maja Vasic-Nikolic at [email protected].

The e-workshop is organized in the framework of the Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey project, which is implemented by BIRN Hub in partnership with Thomson Media gGmbH (TM), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Central European University (Center for Media, Data and Society at CEU), the Media Association of South-East Europe (MASEE), the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN CG), the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers in Macedonia (SSNM), BIRN Albania and BIRN Serbia.

The project is funded by EuropeAid/European Commission through its Regional Training and Support Program to Improve Quality and Professionalism in Journalism.

Serbia Hugely Underestimated COVID-19 Death Toll, Official Admits

Confirming the substance of BIRN reports on this issue, a Government Crisis Staff member has admitted that the COVID-19 death toll in June was far higher than was officially reported, blaming a new information system.

A member of the Serbian Government’s Crisis Staff, Predrag Kon, has admitted that the number of deaths related to COVID-19 by June officially announced by the government was three times less than the real number.

Kon blamed the new informational system being used for the first time, which had not been not accurate, saying subsequent analysis of the data revealed a big difference between the real and announced numbers.

“We were using an information system for the first time. That information system at one point, at one time, was not precise enough and I cannot say why, so, somewhere from mid-June, it was not accurate,” Kon told NewsMaxAdria TV on Tuesday.

“Examining everything that happened, it is clear that there is a difference between what we, at the level of Belgrade, determined as cases and, especially deaths,” he added.

“Deaths cannot be accurately reported unless a certain period has elapsed. The data entered in the death certificate is only returned in two months… I processed the data by June. By June, in short, there were three times more deaths not only than what was officially announced but also what was reported,” he continued.

Kon said that such things “happen all the time”, and repeated that “we have never worked on that system”.

At the end of June BIRN reported that from March 19 to June 1 this year, a total of 632 people died in Serbia who had tested positive for the coronavirus, which was more than twice the officially announced number of 244 deaths in that period.

By analysing data obtained from the state’s own COVID-19 information system, BIRN also reported that the number of people who had oecame infected in Serbia from June 17 to June 20 was at least 300 per day, which was far more than the officially announced figures. They recorded a maximum of 97 new cases in a single day during that period.

At that point, officials from Batut Institute, which manages the COVID-19 information system, declined to respond to the BIRN reports while state officials, including President Aleksandar Vucic, dismissed BIRN’s revelations.

Serbia was in a state of emergency, with a curfew and strict bans on movement lasting from March 15 until May 6. Soon after the state of emergency was lifted, many of the other bans were lifted, too, so Serbia was among the first states in Europe to again allow mass gatherings, and big audiences for football matches. One between local rivals Red Star and Partisan on June 10, according to Reuters agency, attracted some 25,000 fans. Serbia also held parliamentary elections in June 2020.

Bosnian Prosecution Questions War Crime Witnesses After BIRN Report

The Bosnian state prosecution has questioned witnesses who could shed light on the wartime killings of Pero Glavocevic and Pero Bozic in the Fojnica area in July 1993 after BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina published an article about the case on September 11.

The victims’ families have been campaigning for action to resolve the case for 27 years.

The Office for Legal Assistance to Veterans with the General Council of the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomed the fact that the the state prosecution has finally started working to identify the perpetrators of the murders.

“Of course, I am aware of the fact that, in order to ensure the goals of the ongoing investigation are protected, the prosecution is unable to provide information on the actions undertaken or being undertaken at present, but it pleases me to know that the case has finally taken off, bearing in mind what has been done in that respect in the past. I hope that this article has contributed to that too,” said Zvonko Vidovic of the Office for Legal Assistance to Veterans.

The Glavocevic and Bozic families had previously addressed the cantonal prosecution in Travnik and the state prosecution on several occasions, asking them to resolve the case as witnesses to the crime have been dying.

Vidovic explained that the first criminal report naming a perpetrator had been filed to the then prosecutor’s office in Vitez on November 8, 1994, and then again a year later.

He said that a request was also filed to the Higher Court in Travnik in 1996, demanding an investigation into four former Bosnian Army soldiers for alleged ethnic cleansing in the Fojnica area. 

He said the Glavocevic and Bozic case was finally submitted to the state prosecution in 2011, but no apparent action was taken until now.

Thomson Media Launches an Online Course on Mobile Journalism

As a part of a Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey project, Thomson Media has launched an online course on mobile journalism.

The online course is open for journalists or media professionals from the Western Balkans who are interested in using their mobile phone for complete production of powerful journalistic stories.

Through practical exercises, the online course will enable participants to learn how to take powerful photos, record audio and video and edit journalistic stories on mobile. It will help them think as mobile journalists who use a smartphone and newly acquired skills for independent production of quality media content.

Participants of the online course will learn

  • Mobile journalism basics and its advantages;
  • How to take control over your mobile phone camera;
  • How to take high quality photos and record audio and video with your phone;
  • How to edit journalistic stories on your mobile phone with free applications.

The course was developed in accordance with Thomson Media blended learning approach – it allows participants to work at own pace, and those who successfully finalise it will be awarded a certificate and a chance to participate in an advance course in Mobile Journalism to be held as e-workshop, followed by one on one mentoring by our experts in content production.

The course materials are all available to participants as soon as they enrol and they will need approximately 4 hours to finish the course.

The online course is hosted by Thomson Media lead regional trainer, Aleksandar Manasiev, an experienced journalist and editor of the digital media Vidi Vaka.  It features a special appearance of Glen Mulcahy, the pioneer of mobile journalism who has inspired and championed the growth of mobile journalism across the globe.

The self-paced online courses are available in three languages – Macedonian, Bosnian/Serbian and Albanian. Participants from the region can enrol as of the following dates:

  • ,

For more information about our online course on mobile journalism please contact Maja Vasic-Nikolic at [email protected].

The course is organized in the framework of the Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey project, which is implemented by BIRN Hub in partnership with Thomson Media gGmbH (TM), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Central European University (Center for Media, Data and Society at CEU), the Media Association of South-East Europe (MASEE), the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN CG), the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers in Macedonia (SSNM), BIRN Albania and BIRN Serbia.

Turkish Recipient of BIRN EU Award for Investigative Journalism Acquitted

Zehra Özdilek, who won first place in the 2020 BIRN EU Investigative Journalism Awards competition, was acquitted by Istanbul 27th Criminal Court on September 24 of committing a crime by publishing information about the identity of a trial witness in a news report.

Özdilek was accused of “identifying a public officer on anti-terrorist duty as a target” because of a news report she wrote that was published in Cumhuriyet newspaper in May 2019.

She was charged with disclosing the name of a “secret witness in a counterterrorism case” in an interview that she conducted with a teacher who had been dismissed from duty by decree.

Özdilek was acquitted under the verdict that stated that the witness’s identity was not revealed by her news story.

“I agree with the verdict. The [identity of the] witness had been disclosed in several newspapers and websites before my article was published, meaning that I did not disclose the information, it had already been disclosed.” Özdilek said.

She won the EU Investigative Journalism Award for her story entitled “Zindaşti Bomb”, which unearthed ties between drug trafficker Naci Zindaşti and Burhan Kuzu, a former MP from the ruling AKP party.

In her acceptance speech Özdilek said she was accepting her award “on behalf of all imprisoned journalists”.

The EU Investigative Journalism Awards in the Western Balkans and Turkey aim to celebrate and promote the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists as well as improve the visibility of quality journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

BIRN Kosovo Trains Teachers in Public Speaking and Presenting

BIRN Kosovo, with the support of the US Embassy in Kosovo, held training workshops for teachers from across the country from September 19 to 23 on public speaking and presenting in front of a camera.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, around 70 teachers were trained to use virtual classroom platforms, including Zoom, Google Meets and Google Classroom, and PowerPoint.

In the first session, teachers acquired skills in public speaking, preparing presentation material, and learned how to position themselves in front of the camera.

The second session consisted of practicing video production, ranging from filming and editing to finalising videos that are used for teaching remotely.

In total, BIRN Kosovo organised eight two-day training workshops with four different groups in each workshop.

The KALLXO.com training coaches included managing editor Kreshnik Gashi and IT manager Arian Hyseni, as well as Internews Kosova’s executive director, Faik Ispahiu, and IT officer Korab Gërdovci.

Meanwhile, on September 21, as part of the same project, BIRN Kosovo launched a technical support line to provide further support to teachers between 9am to 7pm by telephone, Viber or WhatsApp. The technical support team will also assist parents and students in using other online platforms if needed.

BIRN Kosovo Holds Debate on Audit Report in Kamenica

On September 24 in the municipality of Kamenica, BIRN Kosovo held the first of its series of debates discussing the findings of its audit reports monitoring project, which analyses reports published by the National Audit Office, NAO, on Kosovo’s municipalities.

The results of BIRN’s monitoring and analysis were published and discussed in an open debate with more than 30 participants from the municipality, the National Audit Office and civil society organisations. The debate was also streamed live on BIRN’s anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

Visar Prebreza, BIRN Kosovo’s managing editor, gave a brief presentation about the project and its findings, stating that the municipality of Kamenica has performed well in increasing its capital investments. Prebreza also praised the municipality for its positive assessment from the NAO.

Qendron Kastrati, the mayor of the municipality of Kamenica, said that “for the best functioning of an institution, the most important aspect is the audit, whether it is an external or internal audit”.

Kastrati said that the NAO’s opinion is motivating the municipal administration to advance further.

During the debate, Astrit Bllaca, the Head of the Audit Department of Municipalities from the National Audit Office, stated that the municipality of Kamenica had spent 92 per cent of its final budget for 2019, 2 per cent more than in 2018.

Bllaca added that controls over revenues and expenditures are generally appropriate, but that further improvements are needed in subsidies, capital investments, the management of assets, liabilities, and the classification of expenditures in the appropriate economic category.

As well as providing a forum to discuss the implementation of recommendations given by the NAO, the debates also give BIRN the opportunity to record promises made both by the General Auditor and the municipality of Kamenica, to be followed up through KALLXO.com’s fact-checking platform, Krypometer.

The debate in Kamenica was organised within the framework of a project called ‘Support civil society to increase public oversight and accountability of Kosovo public institutions’, funded by the British embassy in Pristina. This specific activity is organised as part of a component looking into the compliance of targeted institutions with recommendations from the Auditor General’s reports.

Similar debates will be held in other municipalities in Kosovo, with the aim of presenting BIRN Kosovo’s analysis of the progress made in implementing recommendations made by the Auditor General. Every debate will be held during municipal assemblies of the municipalities in question, and will be livestreamed by BIRN Kosovo.

BIRN Grant Supports RIINVEST Economic Journalism Awards in Kosovo

The RIINVEST Institute, a Kosovo think-tank, presented awards on Friday for the three best articles covering issues related to the economy that were produced following training sessions held by the institute.

The training and awards were made possible by a grant from BIRN, as part of the ‘Contribute to Strengthening Independent, Investigative and Publicly Beneficial Journalism and Freedom of Expression in Kosovo’ project, which is being implemented in cooperation with the Association of Kosovo Journalists.

First prize was won by Albulena Mavraj for her article evaluating government plans to allow citizens to withdraw ten per cent of their savings in the Kosovo Pension Fund as a means to help combat the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis.

According to the jury, the article provided credible information to the public about a topic which was not thoroughly covered or explained in most of Kosovo’s media outlets.

Albione Hajdari was awarded second place for her article exploring the hardships that young people in Kosovo face in searching for work following graduation. Third place went to Lulzim Ahmeti, whose story outlined some of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus crisis.

The project, which is supported by the EU, seeks to develop journalism that is independent, impartial, unbiased and beneficial to the public interest, while equipping the beneficiaries with the required skills and resources to implement creative, investigative stories.

BIRN Kosovo Holds Conference on Pandemic’s Impact on Municipality’s Finances

BIRN Kosovo held a town hall conference on Wednesday about the impact of the pandemic on municipal revenues and expenses, the first such event to be organised within the framework of the ‘Promoting the Auditor General/National Audit Office’s Role in Kosovo’ project.

Supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pristina, these town hall conferences are intended to examine the difficulties that municipalities face in collecting revenues and spending their budgets. They also present the findings of the Auditor General, with a particular emphasis on those relating to public finances.

The conference was attended by the mayor of the municipality of Dragash, Shaban Shabani, Assistant Auditor General, Emine Fazliu, the managing editor at KALLXO.com, Visar Prebreza, as well as representatives of civil society and municipal assembly members. The conference was streamed live on BIRN’s anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

Prebreza gave a brief presentation about an analysis of the auditor’s findings, noting that “the pandemic has complicated the issue of revenues and the expenditures of public money in this municipality.”

Assistant Auditor General Fazliu stated that the opinion the National Audit Office provided on the annual financial statements for the Municipality of Dragash for 2019 was an unmodified opinion, which means that the annual financial statements present a true and fair view in all material respects.

Mayor Shabani assessed that “holding this debate contributes to increasing the transparency of the municipality”, adding that the municipality considers the Auditor General a very important mechanism for improving governance.

Similar town hall conferences will be held in other municipalities in Kosovo with the aim of presenting BIRN’s analysis of the implementation of the auditor’s recommendations and public finances. All of them will be held in the municipal buildings of the municipalities in question, and will be livestreamed by BIRN Kosovo.