On 7 April 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia, the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) organized the fifth and final training for the Office of the Commissioner for Free Access to Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia. Although only four activities were initially planned for the Commissioner’s Office within the project, an additional fifth session drew significant interest, bringing   together more than 100 participants.

Following the seminars held in the major Serbian cities of Nis, Novi Sad, Novi Pazar and Kragujevac, public sector officials from Belgrade working on free access to information also had the opportunity to discuss the current legal frameworks in Serbia and the European Union, and strengthen their knowledge of the  application of the Serbian Law  on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.

The one-day training was led by Ms. Rosana Lemut-Strle, an IACA expert on free access to information; Mr. Milan Marinovic, the Commissioner for Free Access to Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia; and Ms. Slavoljupka Pavlovic, the Acting Assistant Secretary-General in the Office of the Commissioner. 

The training is part of the EUROLIS project, which aims to support Serbian institutions on their path toward EU accession, specifically concerning Chapters 23 and 24 of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Serbia. The project is funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation.

This session marked the conclusion of a successful series of trainings for the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and the Office of the Commissioner for Free Access to Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, thereby concluding the Project on Support to Control Functions and Improvement of Legislation Implementation.