Kosovo’s government has made the fight against corruption one of its top priorities — when you think of the recent ‘Pronto’ indictment, serious allegations of political interference in the judicial system and the manipulation of the list of war veterans, it seems it has a lot of work to do!
But away from the high profile cases, in the fight for transparency in public office, informed citizens that can hold institutions and representatives accountable are key to a true democracy. And that means having access to public documents and decisions.
Legally, Kosovars are fully entitled to request access to public documents, and to know the exact details of what the president has spent on wine, or the cost to the public purse of building a new highway. In practice, the reality is very different. Information is said to be power, but in Kosovo it is all too often treated as a privilege.
In our latest Small Talk, we want to discuss the transparency of Kosovar institutions. What are the existing mechanisms for ensuring accountability? How does access to public documents contribute to the fight against corruption? What problems do journalists — and other citizens — face when trying to access public documents? Can Kosovar citizens really access any information they want? What steps will it take for Kosovo to become an open democracy?
Join us at 18:00 on Friday, September 28 in M Club for an open, participative discussion, where we’ll tackle all these questions and more. We’ve invited a few people along to help get the conversation started:
- Mexhide Demolli-Nimani — director of FOL Initiative
- Blerta Thaqi — executive director of Open Data Kosovo
- Hilmi Jashari — Ombudsperson
- Donjeta Gashi — director of Public Communications Office within the Office of the Prime Minister
The discussion will be moderated by K2.0 journalist Arian Lumezi.
*Translation in English will be provided.K
This K2.0 Small Talk is funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo and supported by BIRN and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo.
Feature image: Faton Selani / K2.0.
