The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) hosted two workshops as part of the project ‘Empowering Journalism Transparency in Defence Spending and Arms Procurement in the Western Balkans’, funded by the Swedish Institute.
The workshops took place on 15–16 October and 6–7 November 2025. The project aims to strengthen transparency and accountability in the defence sector by fostering cooperation between journalists, researchers and policymakers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. During the workshops, participants discussed challenges and best practices related to investigating defence spending, arms procurement and regional security cooperation. SIPRI provided training to the groups on how to monitor defence spending and arms procurement trends.
The project also included an event titled ‘Taking the Pulse of the Western Balkans’. The event was open to the public and featured a panel discussion on the political developments and security dynamics in the region.
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