The roundtable discussion will take place on 28 August, titled ‘The Line Is(n’t) Thin: Fact v. Opinion, Regulation v. Censorship’.
Western Balkan participants will be joined by Mr Jakub Kalensky of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and Mr Burak Ünveren, a journalist at Deutsche Welle.
Through an open and dynamic exchange, participants and guests will have an opportunity to touch upon questions that do not always have straightforward answers in the fight against disinformation, such as: how to ensure that democratic standards and freedom of speech are upheld while still curbing the spread of disinformation? Are the current projects and initiatives focused on countering disinformation largely on the right track – or do we need to adjust our course? How has the experience with Covid-19 and the Russian aggression against Ukraine changed journalism – have we learned anything?
Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation project continues to support efforts of Western Balkan governments, media and civil society to establish national mechanisms for countering disinformation. The roundtable event will further be an opportunity to discuss the way forward in these efforts, and in particular, the role of media and civil society.
After the roundtable discussion, Western Balkan participants are invited to join and enjoy the rich program of the Bled Strategic Forum on 28 and 29 August.
The project is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.
In North Macedonia, activities to strengthen the capacity of Macedonian institutions to carry out financial investigations continued between 3 and 7 July 2023 in the framework of the project ” Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations “. The project is being implemented with Slovenian development assistance. This was the second consultation this year, followed by workshops. Both activities focused on the processing of real cases and the procedures for conducting financial investigations in line with EU standards.
The consultations took place in Skopje, and the workshops that followed in the east of the country (Kočani). The activities were conducted with the participation of Slovenian experts from the Specialised State Prosecution Office, the Financial Administration, and the Police, while on the Macedonian side, they were attended by representatives of the institutions responsible for financial investigations in North Macedonia from the ranks of the Public Prosecution Office, the Ministry of the Interior (Police), the Financial Police and the Customs Administration. The consultations were first held with each institution individually and then continued with group work in the workshop part of the program, involving all institutions at the same time.
Participants in the consultations and workshops renewed their gratitude once again to Slovenia and representatives of Slovenian investigative and prosecuting authorities for their help and support in implementing changes in their institutions in the context of EU accession regarding the conduct of financial investigations and the confiscation of assets of illicit origin and proceeds of crime. In particular, they were thankful to the Slovenian experts for sharing their knowledge, advice, and practical experience in dealing with real cases. The discussion gave them the opportunity to check and validate their practices and to identify areas and steps that still need to be improved to progress. As extremely positive and welcome, the Macedonian participants saw the opportunity to bring together the different Macedonian institutions in charge of financial investigations in the same place and the possibility to exchange experiences and good practices among them at the same time. They also welcomed the fact that they will be able to put into practice immediately everything they have learned in the consultations and workshops.
Activities are funded by the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
With Slovenian development assistance, capacity-building activities in financial investigations will continue in North Macedonia between 4 and 7 July 2023.
In the framework of the project “Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations”, consultations and workshops will be held for the institutions responsible for financial investigations in North Macedonia. During consultations and workshops, Slovene experts from the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Administration and the Police will share their experience in dealing with real-life cases with their Macedonian colleagues.
Activities are funded by the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
On 14-15 June 2023, in the framework of the “Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations”, project meetings were held in Skopje with representatives of the interested professional and international community in North Macedonia. Meetings were held at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the OSCE Mission in Skopje, and the Development Cooperation Section of the Embassy of Sweden, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU. During the meetings, the interlocutors were presented with information on activities carried out since 2019 with Slovenian development assistance in North Macedonia in the field of capacity building of the Macedonian institutions responsible for financial investigations, the challenges they are facing on the way to improving their results, the changes and progress they have already achieved in the framework of the project, as well as the ones that are still ahead of them on the path of European integration.
The meetings with the international community were followed by discussions with legal expert Prof. Dr Vlado Kambovski, President of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, on the changes and adjustments to the legislation that are needed in North Macedonia to conduct financial investigations more effectively according to EU criteria and standards.
The meetings with the interested professional and international community were also an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of cooperation and networking in the implementation of Slovenian development assistance programs aimed at Macedonian institutions to prevent illicit financial flows as effectively as possible, to accelerate activities to confiscate the proceeds of crime and property of illegal origin, to combat the illicit arms trade and, more generally, to fight all forms of organized crime and corruption in North Macedonia as successfully as possible, as any progress the country makes in these areas will naturally be mirrored beyond its borders.
Photo: Meeting with the representatives of UNODC and the Swedish Embassy in Skopje.
Activities are funded by the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
Global experts and practitioners increasingly warn that the phenomenon of disinformation should be viewed through a security lens. Malignant actors recognize and abuse the capacity of disinformation to undermine democratic processes and practices, erode the trust of the population in public institutions, and create tears in the social fabric of societies. While every country in the world faces the challenge of disinformation, Western Balkans is among those regions that have proven particularly vulnerable and often a target for foreign actors. 74% of Western Balkan citizens consider disinformation a security threat.
The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation organized a capacity-building training in Portorož on 6-8 June for representatives of Western Balkan governments, media and civil society to foster joint work on countering this threat.
About forty participants took part in the two-and-a-half day long training dedicated to exploring the building blocks of comprehensive and holistic national defence mechanisms in countering disinformation. Renowned experts from across Europe and the US taught the participants how to verify information, detect and react to disinformation, and establish a whole-of-society response model. Progressing from theory to practice, participants used their new knowledge and tools during practical exercises and tailor-made simulations of disinformation event scenarios.
The objective of the Project is to assist the Western Balkan partners to create national response mechanisms to counter foreign-perpetrated disinformation. The training provided space for national and regional cross-sectoral working group discussions that will feed into national recommendations and other activities developed within the Project.
The project is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.
