Invitation
Gallup Europe in cooperation with European Fund for the Balkans is pleased to invite you to its latest Learn@Lunch event: “Governance and corruption in the Western Balkans: breaking the cycle” to be held on Thursday, 10 June from 12.00 until 13.15 at Gallup House in Brussels. A Balkan buffet lunch will follow the event.
Good governance, the rule of law and political accountability all remain high on the political agenda in the Western Balkans. Despite regular criticism in the Commission’s progress reports in these areas and considerable amounts of money being spent to improve governance in the region, the struggle for ‘cleaner’ societies seems to bear little fruit.
The Gallup Balkan Monitor survey results show that organised crime is pervasive throughout the region, with links to the higher echelons of politics. While monitoring bodies such as Transparency International or the Council of Europe’s GRECO group have acknowledged important steps in the adoption of anti-corruption legislation, they criticise the sluggish implementation of these laws.
This Gallup Learn@Lunch will discuss the available data in depth in order to address important questions relating to good governance in the Western Balkans and the region’s future. Indeed, how can this increased perception of corruption be explained? Is it due to bribery becoming more commonplace or to a greater emphasis on this subject in the media and through awareness campaigns? Many commentators blame the slow progress in the fight against corruption on the lack of political will in the region – can a closer scrutiny and more efficient monitoring of good governance issues increase the pressure on politicians to take action? How can the impact of anti-corruption measures be assessed; are the right tools already in place? Can low levels of trust in government in many Balkan countries be explained as a reaction to the sluggish implementation of governance reforms? And most importantly: are the Balkan difficulties in governance a result of pervasive corruption, or has bad governance made corruption possible?
After an introductory word from Igor Bandović, Programme Manager of the European Fund for the Balkans, Gallup’s partner for the Balkan Monitor, Robert Manchin, Managing Director of Gallup Europe, will unveil Gallup’s latest data on the matter of good governance, corruption and organised crime across the Western Balkan states and will assess progress made in the last few years as perceived by Balkan residents themselves. Robert has also invited Dušan Reljić, Research Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin to address the political and economic aspects of corruption and organised crime in the Western Balkans. Dušan will also comment on the “interface” between crime and politics in the region, give his prognosis for the Western Balkans and make political recommendations on what is needed at regional and EU levels in order to help the countries of the Balkans make essential progress, in their own way, on the difficult path to good governance.
As seats are limited, please register before Monday, 7 June with Andrzej Pyrka: Andrzej_Pyrka@gallup-europe.be
We are looking forward to seeing you on this occasion.
