From Serbia to North Macedonia, whistleblowers who expose corruption often face retaliation. As the region works to align with EU standards, these cases illustrate what effective whistleblower protection should look like in practice.
Editor’s note, last updated 11 November 2026: We first published this article in June 2024. It has been updated with the latest developments in all five cases and new Transparency International research on whistleblower protection in EU enlargement countries.
People who expose corruption in the Western Balkans meet very different fates, but they run much the same risks. For years, Transparency International chapters and partners across the region have supported whistleblowers. When we first published this article in June 2024, we highlighted the experiences of five whistleblowers in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo. Two years on, new court rulings, ongoing legal battles and advocacy efforts continue to underscore both the personal cost of speaking out and the power of whistleblowers to drive change.
Yet these cases also expose persistent weak points in whistleblower protection frameworks and show why legal reforms on paper must translate into effective protection in practice. As part of the EU accession process, candidate countries are expected to bring their whistleblower protection laws into line with the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive. Transparency International’s 2026 assessment of whistleblower protection in EU enlargement countries found that, while some progress has been made, legal frameworks and their implementation still fall short of EU standards and best practice in key areas.
The five cases below show what these gaps mean for people and why reform should be judged not only by whether a law exists, but also by whether whistleblowers can report wrongdoing safely, receive protection quickly and obtain effective remedies when they face retaliation.
Serbia: challenging retaliation and unlawful appointments
In 2020, Milenko Jovanović, Head of Air Control at Serbia’s Environmental Protection Agency, publicly opposed the agency’s decision to change the criteria for measuring air quality. The change, made by the acting director, risked hiding the true pollution levels by making them seem less severe. Under the new methodology, Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, avoided being featured as one of the world’s most polluted cities. Shortly after speaking out, Jovanović was fired.
The agency claimed he was dismissed for failing to adequately maintain air-quality monitoring stations. But when Belgrade’s High Court ordered his reinstatement while the dispute was being resolved, the agency’s director abolished his position.
Jovanović continued his fight with the support of specialised lawyers from Pištaljka, a whistleblower protection and media organisation, and ultimately won both the labour dispute and a lawsuit for damages. As the case progressed, he connected with Transparency Serbia’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC), recognising the systemic nature of the problems in public-sector management.
When ALAC staff investigated further, they found that the Environmental Protection Agency’s acting director was one of many senior civil servants whose appointments did not comply with the law. Since 2015, the acting director had been reappointed multiple times, despite a legal limit of six months for such appointments.
In 2021, ALAC challenged this practice through the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Two years later, the Administrative Court ruled that the government could not reappoint the director, which also meant that Jovanović’s dismissal could not stand on that basis.
Transparency Serbia has since challenged 50 more such appointments, based on information received from civil servants and its own analysis of government decisions. The Public Prosecutor’s Office accepted the requests in 27 cases and asked the courts to annul those appointments.
As of October 2026, almost three years after the lawsuits were filed, the Administrative Court had not resolved any of the 27 cases. These delays have allowed the same appointment practices to continue unchecked. The case highlights that whistleblowing leads to change only when institutions act on the problems it exposes.
Our Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres (ALACs) are here to help. No one needs to report corruption alone. Across the world, ALACs act to ensure people reporting wrongdoing are kept safe and that their stories help bring justice. On top of that, we also keep on pushing for legal protection so that whistleblowers can safely expose and help prevent corruption, ultimately building integrity across our societies. When corruption is reported we are looking into systemic causes and proposing ways to address them.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: protected on paper, punished in practice
Across the region, whistleblowers can face a second failure after retaliation: the wrongdoing they report may not be properly investigated. Courts can be slow and may focus on minor offences rather than the more serious wrongdoing exposed.
In 2018, Emir Mešić, an employee of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reported suspected corruption involving customs revenues to the Prosecutor’s Office. While waiting for the authorities to act on his criminal complaint, the country’s anti-corruption agency, APIK, granted him protected whistleblower status.
Two years later, having seen no sign of an investigation, Mešić went public. Despite his protected status, the taxation authority demoted and suspended him. He turned to Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina for help.
The chapter called on APIK to protect Mešić and provided legal support to challenge the reprisals in court. The Indirect Taxation Authority brought disciplinary proceedings against Mešić for damaging its reputation and fired him in 2021.
Mešić challenged the measures in court, arguing that he had been targeted for speaking out. But the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country’s highest ordinary court, rejected his claim and upheld the disciplinary sanctions as lawful. Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina faulted the ruling for failing to take into account Mešić’s status as a protected whistleblower.
His original corruption report followed a separate path. While these proceedings were underway, the Prosecutor’s Office decided not to open an investigation. Mešić challenged that decision, but his complaint was rejected. He then appealed to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which dismissed the appeal.
Unfortunately, Mešić did not live to see all the proceedings connected to his case concluded. He died of cancer in December 2025.
This case is not isolated. TI Bosnia and Herzegovina has documented similar decisions not to investigate reported corruption, reinforcing concerns about what happens after whistleblowers come forward.
Montenegro: corruption exposed, protection denied
Fear of retaliation remains one of the main reasons people do not report wrongdoing. Yet in a region where exposing corruption is discouraged, whistleblowers are essential for raising the alarm when public money or power is abused for private gain.
Dušan Drakić became one of the most prominent examples of whistleblower retaliation in Montenegro after raising concerns about the management of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC).
In 2023, Drakić, then head of political finance at the agency, was suspended alongside nine colleagues after reporting suspected misappropriation of funds by agency director Jelena Perović. Transparency International’s partner organisation in Montenegro, MANS, helped Drakić file a criminal complaint against Perović.
The APC claimed the suspensions were over administrative disputes and denied Drakić whistleblower protection.
In 2024, Perović was arrested on suspicion of abuse of office. In May 2026, the High Court in Podgorica found her guilty at first instance of several criminal offences and sentenced her to a prison term of two years and two months. Although the verdict is not yet final, the case shows that the concerns first raised by whistleblowers led to criminal prosecution and possible conviction.
Following Perović’s dismissal in August 2024, Drakić was appointed acting director of the APC, placing him in charge of the institution that had previously suspended him. Yet despite this turnaround, his whistleblower case remains unresolved. The agency has never formally recognised him as a protected whistleblower or acknowledged that the disciplinary measures against him amounted to retaliation.
Drakić’s experience highlights a broader problem in Montenegro: even when whistleblowers expose wrongdoing that leads to prosecutions or convictions, they may still be denied meaningful protection.
North Macedonia: a film director’s case influences a new whistleblower law
In North Macedonia, Transparency International’s ALAC has used one prominent case to advocate for revisions to the country’s whistleblower protection law. In 2022, leading film director Milcho Manchevski approached the ALAC to report alleged conflicts of interest in a funding competition run by the National Film Agency.
The findings of ALAC’s investigation supported his allegations, and its staff held a press conference in 2023. The state anti-corruption authority also spoke out. Following his disclosure, the National Film Agency filed a criminal complaint against Manchevski and withdrew funding. At the anti-corruption authority’s request, the government dismissed the agency’s director.
Manchevski continued his legal battle. At the end of 2024, the Administrative Court confirmed the conflict-of-interest irregularities he had exposed at the Film Agency. In early 2025, the Civil Court in Skopje also ruled in his favour regarding the agency’s frozen funds. (Court rulings)
Following these court rulings, the Film Agency, after a delay of nearly three years, signed the contract for his film project “Leaving Copakabana”, whose production had been delayed by the preceding events. In March 2026, the Agency also signed an agreement committing to pay the amount it owed for his previous film, “Kajmak”, along with part of the interest awarded by the court.
The case also revealed gaps in the legal framework that the new Law on Whistleblower Protection, whose adoption has been stalled for an extended period, is set to address.
Kosovo: strong laws must also be enforced
Kosovo’s legislation is closely aligned with the EU Whistleblower Directive, but practical obstacles remain. The challenge increasingly lies in implementation: ensuring that strong rules are interpreted and applied in ways that protect people who speak up.
In 2023, a public official anonymously reported a corrupt recruitment procedure to the ALAC operated by the Democratic Institute of Kosovo (KDI). The ALAC identified multiple violations of labour laws and helped challenge the recruitment process.
The labour inspectorate confirmed the violations and ordered the institution to repeat the recruitment procedure. The whistleblower was ultimately selected on merit.
However, in 2024, the institution launched disciplinary proceedings against him. He was later reinstated by the competent independent civil service body and returned to his position.
Even so, the case illustrates the difficulties whistleblowers can still face. While the independent body ordered his reinstatement, it also barred him from promotion for two years, arguing that he had disclosed information publicly without first exhausting all the reporting procedures set out in the law.
The broader significance of the case became clear when the Special Prosecution of Kosovo filed an indictment against the former Minister of Trade and Industry in connection with the allegations reported by the whistleblower. The case is currently before the court.
From individual cases to regional change
These cases show what is at stake when whistleblowers are not properly protected. People who speak up can face years of retaliation, while the wrongdoing they expose often remains unaddressed.
As countries across the Western Balkans reform their laws as part of the EU accession process, they have a real opportunity to do better. Transparency International’s 2026 assessment highlights where whistleblower protection still falls short and what reforms are needed to close those gaps.
Through legal assistance, awareness campaigns, advocacy, policy recommendations, and cooperation with coalitions and working groups, Transparency International chapters and partners continue to ensure that when citizens speak up, their voices are heard and protected.
ALACs across the region support individual whistleblowers while using their experiences to advocate for broader reforms that promote transparency and accountability.
The goal is simple: people should be able to expose corruption without fear of retaliation, confident that they will receive protection, support and effective remedies when needed.
Empowering whistleblowers against corruption (EWAC)
EWAC helps strengthen whistleblower protection in Moldova, Montenegro and North Macedonia through legal reform, institutional support, public awareness and direct assistance to people reporting corruption.
