Regional corruption monitoring system
In the meanwhile, work progressed on the development of a regional corruption monitoring system. Experts from Vitosha Research, the sociological unit of the Center for the Study of Democracy developed a survey methodology for the corruption diagnostics in seven SEE countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro. A network of survey agencies and watchdog NGOs was established to carry out the surveys.
As
a result, a report Regional Corruption
Monitoring in Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia and
Montenegro was produced in March 2001. The main goal of the comparative analysis
contained in the report was to show the public significance of the problem of corruption and
the extent to which corruption has penetrated into the various sections
of society.
The
report is a unique effort which has not been undertaken in the region
before. Its significance was underscored at the international conference
Beyond
Anticorruption Rhetoric: Coalition Building and Monitoring Impact,
organized by Coalition 2000 in Sofia. Both Bulgarian and international
media widely covered the report which was presented and discussed
at the event. The conference was attended by representatives of non-governmental
organizations and public officials from Southeast European countries as
well as by representatives of international organizations, such as USAID,
OECD, the World Bank, the European Union, UNDP and the Stability Pact
for Southeast Europe. Among the keynote speakers were Mr. Sten Ask, Ambassador
of Sweden, holding rotating presidency of the EU and the US Ambassador
to Bulgaria Richard Miles. In his opening speech
Ambassador Donald Kursch, Principal Deputy Special Coordinator of the
Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, highly praised the achievements of
the Southeast European Legal Development Initiative.
Preparation
of phase two