What this year’s investigations reveal about power, abuse, and accountability in the region
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and Türkiye continue to confront corruption, institutional failures, and human rights violations with uncompromising reporting. The EU Investigative Journalism Award 2025, implemented by Thomson Media and its local partners in SSNM (North Macedonia) and AoJ (Türkiye), once again showcased remarkable stories produced under challenging circumstances, marking a new milestone with 284 applications – the highest number to date.
This year also saw a record volume of submissions from Albania and North Macedonia, reflecting a growing culture of investigative practice and strengthened editorial commitment to watchdog journalism across the region. More than 270 individual journalists and 84 teams, representing over 120 media outlets, contributed to this year’s competition.
Corruption with consequences
Many of this year’s most impactful investigations went beyond exposing illicit dealings to show how corruption operates through state institutions themselves.
In Türkiye, Asuman Aranca Kol’s award-winning article The ‘rent payments’ sent to Supreme Court member Yüksel Kocaman were also included in the MASAK report on Ayhan Bora Kaplan’s money laundering case revealed troubling links between organised crime and the judiciary, raising urgent questions about judicial independence. Another awarded investigation, Public foundation robbed with plastic invoices, written by İsmail Arı, exposed large-scale corruption within the Yunus Emre Foundation – reporting that was later confirmed by official investigations.
In Serbia, the first prize was divided between two stories showcasing the corruption at the highest institutional levels. Aleksa Tešić’s story about the hacks on activists’ phones documented how the Security Information Agency used forensic technology to unlawfully access activists’ devices, revealing a chilling abuse of surveillance powers.
At the same time, Saša Dragojlo’s From Belgrade to Be’er Sheva: Israeli Military Flights and Million-Euro Weapons Shipments traced €23 million in arms exports, connecting domestic political decisions to international conflict and global accountability debates.
A defining feature of the 2025 award cycle is the rise of investigations placing human vulnerability at the centre.
The documentary Where is Sara?, by Jelena Jevtić and Mubarek Asani, examined the unresolved disappearance of a newborn baby from a public hospital in Bosnia and Herzegovina, exposing unanswered questions and institutional silence. In Serbia, Domestic Violence Against Children: The Invisible Victims by BIRN team illuminated how systemic failures leave children unprotected, while the podcast series Traces: The Pit (CINS) revisited the Soko mine tragedy, uncovering negligence and long-standing accountability gaps.
In Kosovo, AlbKings transformed personal experience into public investigation, exposing organised online harassment and gender-based digital violence targeting women journalists. The story sparked national debate and institutional responses, highlighting the growing relevance of digital rights within investigative reporting.
Environment, labour, and everyday exploitation
Environmental and labour-focused investigations also featured prominently. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dejan Rakita’s Project Lithium: Lopare between reality, dream, and nightmare unpacked the social, economic, and environmental risks of lithium exploitation. In Albania, The Resort at Monastery Bay Destroying the Archaeological Potential of Butrint Park by Amfora.al revealed how strategic investment status was used to bypass protections in a UNESCO-listed area.
Other investigations documented economic exploitation more directly. Vladimir Karaj’s Like Prison: How African Migrant Workers Suffer Exploitation in Albania exposed harsh working conditions faced by migrant labourers, while “They exploit us to the core” by Citizens.al highlighted the systemic abuse of women working in the garment industry.
Surveillance, digital harm, and new frontiers
Technology-driven abuse emerged as another defining trend. In Montenegro, Ivan Ivanović’s Big Brother: Montenegrin Ministry of Interior Acquires Israeli Facial Recognition Software raised concerns about the introduction of biometric surveillance without a clear legal framework.
At the regional level, Xhorxhina Bami’s TikTok used across Balkans to ‘slutshame’ women and girls mapped coordinated online abuse across countries, combining data analysis with survivor testimony to reveal the scale and impact of digital violence.
Cross-border investigations with regional impact
Several awarded investigations demonstrated the growing strength of cross-border reporting. IRL Macedonia’s investigation won them their second regional award, this time for the story A postal clerk protected the power plants of ESM from ash, while the state budget was left ‘ash-covered’, that exposed large-scale corruption involving public energy companies, while the regional arms trade investigations traced opaque military shipments across borders, showing how domestic decisions reverberate internationally.
List of all winners is available here.
About the Award
The EU Award for Investigative Journalism 2025 is part of the project “Strengthening Quality Journalism in Western Balkans and Türkiye II.” The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium composed of: Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN Hub, Central European University (CEU), Association of Journalists (AJ) Türkiye, Thomson Media (TM), University Goce Delčev Štip (UGD), Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), Media Association of South-East Europe (MASE), and BIRN Kosovo.
