Expressing her dedication to international cooperation and institutional development, Jelena Perović, the Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, participated in a panel discussion titled "Implementation and Evaluation of Anti-Corruption Policies" at the "Anti-Corruption Policy as a Guarantee for National Security, Stability and Sovereignty" regional forum in Sofia, part of the "Summit for Democracy" platform. The event, opened by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, was organized by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), and the Basel Institute on Governance.

As stated by the organizers, the forum brought together anti-corruption leaders from Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region to exchange experiences and practices.

Director Perović introduced the event participants to good practices and methodologies applied by the Agency, which ensure non-selectivity in action, support the institution's autonomy and independence.

"Behind us is the best year since the founding of the Agency, in which our results were recognized by our international partners, primarily the European Commission and GRECO, who praised our performance in corruption prevention," Perović said.

"We are proud of our results, but we are also aware that there is room for further progress and improvement of efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, in the next period, in cooperation with the experts of the Council of Europe, we will develop a methodology for in-depth verification of the assets of public officials, in order to create an effective mechanism which would, among other things, include verification of the members of the common household and related persons of the public official. Another innovation planned for this year is the connection of the Agency with the Montenegrin Electronic Public Procurement System (CEJN) in terms of conflict of interest and control of the data provided by political entities," Perović said.

After her visit to Sofia, the Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption will visit Skopje, where on Thursday, March 23, she will participate in the founding meeting of the Southeast Europe Women Leaders' Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Forum (SEE WGGLAF) at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Slavica Grkovska.