On September 12-13, 2023, with the aim of exchanging international experiences on mechanisms for preventing and fighting corruption, informing and educating the public, as well as for the protection of whistleblowers, the delegation of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (APK) headed by the director, Yll Buleshkaj, stayed for a two-day study visit in Austria. The delegation was hosted at the Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities of the OSCE (OCEEA) and the Federal Anti-Corruption Bureau of Austria (BAK). This activity was organized and supported by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo .
The AK delegation was received by BAK, a counterpart institution specialized in preventing and fighting corruption, including the protection of whistleblowers. Dr. Ernst Schmid, Director within the BAK, accompanied by four other specialists, presented the legal and institutional framework for the prevention and fight against corruption, the case management process as well as inter-institutional cooperation. At the meeting, successful projects for educating the public, especially young people, such as ‘Correct or Corrupt’ and ‘Fit4Compliance’ were presented. Both institutions agreed that this meeting will be considered as the first which will be followed by cooperation from which APK will benefit especially from the Austrian experience in the development of investigations and from ideas for informing and educating the public.
During the meeting at OCEEA, APK was informed about important projects that this Office is developing in many countries. For APK, the received information about virtual assets and the increased awareness of the risks that accompany them, the possible corruptive crimes related to cryptocurrencies, the tracking software for the flow of virtual assets, the possibility of registration as an institution of special importance were preventing corruption in platforms for online exchange or online trading of cryptocurrencies. For APK, the methodological model for school teachers developed in the Kyrgyz Republic was also very interesting in order for students of grades 5 to 11, in the appropriate language, to learn about the prevention of corruption as well as ethical and legal behavior.
The visit was a special opportunity for APK to be informed about some of the modern trends in the prevention and investigation of corruption and was accompanied by mutual interest in exchanging experiences and the future.
