Anti-corruption reform in the Western Balkans must move beyond formal legal alignment and demonstrate measurable, irreversible results in practice, according to the conclusions of a SELDI policy forum held alongside the Berlin Process Ministerial Meeting. Effective anti-corruption systems require institutionally independent enforcement bodies, staff with strong professional integrity and technical expertise, sustained political commitment and closer operational cooperation among the police, prosecutors, audit institutions and preventive authorities. Participants warned that frequent political changes often leave long-term anti-corruption strategies without clear ownership, reducing them to administrative checklists. They also highlighted the need to confront business and media capture, monopolisation of strategic sectors and judicial vulnerabilities through beneficial-ownership transparency, stronger cross-border cooperation and EU benchmarks focused on demonstrated impact. Recommendations included suspending EU funding where competitive procurement rules are circumvented and ensuring that digitalisation and artificial intelligence are accompanied by strong cybersecurity, accountable data governance and safeguards preserving human oversight. Read more here.
Source: MCIC
