RACVIAC was invited to attend a Closeout event of the EU funded regional project ‘Breaking the Silence: Enhancing Whistleblowing Policies and Culture in the Western Balkans and Moldova’, symbolically titled ‘Have We Broken the Silence’, during which the results of this project were presented and discussed.
The event took place on March 14, 2023 in Hotel Courtyard Marriott, Sarajevo and was hosted by the Regional Anticorruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat in collaboration with the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and gathered representatives of the international community, public institutions and CSOs in BA.
The Opening remarks were delivered by the Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative to BA Ambassador Johann Sattler, Head of Unit Western Balkans Policy and Regional Strategy at EC DG NEAR Thomas Hagleitner, and Head of RAI Secretariat Desislava Gotskova.
Following the presentation of project activities and results by the Anti-Corruption Expert and Project Manager Elmerina Ahmetaj Hrelja, friends of the project, Tom Devine, RAI Whistleblowing Expert and Legal Director of the Government Accountability Project, USA, and Arjan Dyrmishi, Coordinator of the SEE Coalition on Whistleblower Protection, shared their perspectives on the significance of continuous support to whistleblower protection.
The event gathered Ambassadors and Deputy heads of Missions of Embassies of Croatia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, France, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Slovenia and Egypt, as well as representatives of international organizations and missions such as UNDP BA, UNODC, Council of Europe, IISG, RACVIAC, representatives of local institutions, including the Ministry of Justice of BA and Ministry of Security of BA, and local civil society and investigative media organizations.
RACVIAC representative, COL Dimitrios Biris, Activity Manager in RACVIAC SSG Pillar participated in the event. RAI is RACVIAC long-term partner when it comes to activities carried out by its Security Sector Governance Pillar.
