News and Events

This evaluation is commissioned as part of Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds of the Austrian Development Cooperation commitment to strategic learning, accountability, and the promotion of good governance in the Western Balkans.

The winners of the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence were announced at a ceremony in Vienna on 16 May, honouring three powerful stories that reveal pressing environmental, political, and social challenges across Europe.

The first prize for the Dejan Anastasijevic Award, named after the late highly respected Serbian journalist, in investigative journalism was handed to Aleksa Tesic for the series on the wiretapping of Serbian activists. The third prize was won by Sasa Dragojlo and Avi Scharf for their series on Serbia’s arms exports to Israel.

Aida Tinjak is the Grants and Project Coordinator at the BIRN Hub.

Eleven young journalists took part in BIRN Macedonia’s latest investigative journalism training session in April.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is seeking highly skilled experts to contribute to the Reporting Digital Rights and Freedoms project and to develop Policy Papers that will outline regulatory and policy paths to prevent digital rights violations, focusing on countries from the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) and Turkey.

Journalists from across the Western Balkans participated in a three-day training course on safe reporting, crisis journalism, and digital security.

A BIRN Montenegro conference highlighted that court proceedings against those responsible for unlawful surveillance measures have dragged on for years – without reaching verdicts.

BIRN BiH, Srebrenica Memorial Centre and Forgotten Children of War Association launch joint initiative designed for students and teachers on judicially established facts about the Bosnian war.

BIRN Kosovo, in cooperation with the Kosovo Academy of Justice, organized a four-day intensive training on the challenges of violent extremism, radicalism, and terrorism in Kavajë, Albania, from 13-16 April.

On April 16, at 2.30 p.m., Transparency International US and Transparency International Defence & Security will launch a new report, “Under the Radar: Corruption’s Role in Fuelling Arms Diversion”.

Rural communities in Western Moldavia, a region of north-eastern Romania, face a growing water crisis, mainly due to depleted groundwater reserves and the poor management of water mains. A BIRN investigation shows that the people impacted attempt to adapt, but resolving this issue requires political solutions.

On April 11, BIRN launched a new version of its Digital Freedoms Monitoring Tool to continue monitoring and documenting violations of digital rights across the region.

In the lead-up to the May 11 parliamentary elections, BIRN Albania in cooperation with the Central Election Commission (CEC) organised a two-day roundtable bringing together 40 journalists from leading national and local media to discuss electoral challenges and the role of the media in the democratic process.

BIRN Albania is inviting experienced international experts or evaluation teams to apply for a consultancy to assess the implementation and impact of its Strategic Plan for the period 2021–2025.