KCSS RESEARCHER, SOFIJE KRYEZIU PRESENTED AT THE REGIONAL CONFERENCE WITH THE TOPIC: FREEDOM OF PUBLIC INFORMATION - EVOLVING PRACTICES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS REGION

KCSS researcher, Sofije Kryeziu held a presentation in the Regional Conference on Freedom of Information with the topic: Freedom of Public Information - Evolving Practices in the Western Balkans Region. Her presentation was focused on the general perceptions and knowledge of the Kosovo citizens and their about their fundamental right to Privacy and Personal Data Protection. According to her, public awareness remains one of the main challenges of the National Agency for Personal Data Protection. She stressed the general lack of knowledge of citizens, where 70% of Kosovo citizens have declared that they are not aware of their rights when it comes to Personal Data Protection. On the other hand, only 11% of citizens have some knowledge and 19% of them declared they largely have knowledge about these rights.

The conference was organized by the Public Communication Office of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, with the support of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo on September 18th 2014. The conference was attended by representatives of regional countries from Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia.

In the first part of the conference, the representatives of regional countries and Kosovo offered a general overview of the state of affairs in the region regarding the institutional organization, legislation and the implementation of the legal framework in the field of personal data protection and access to public information.

In the first panel, accountability and monitoring of the government in accordance with the legislation on freedom of information was discussed. The panel was consisted of:

1. Ruzhdi Jashari, Chief National Supervisor, National Agency for Personal Data Protection, Kosovo

2. Besnik Dervishi, Commissioner for the Personal Data Protection

3. Šefko Crnovršanin, President of Council of the Agency for Personal Data Protection, Montenegro

4. Sofije Kryeziu, Researcher, Kosovar Center for Security Studies (KCSS)

Moderator: Ismet Cakiqi, Coordinator of the Office of Public Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister.