The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance Mr. Rodoljub Sabic and Mr. Igor Soltes, President of the Court of Auditors of the Republic of Slovenia (institution with the major role in public expenditure control, similar to the role SAI should have in our country), talked today about their experiences in the fight against corruption and about ways to improve cooperation in that field. Marking this conversation as very constructive, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic also said:

“Mr. Igor Soltes, as the President of the Slovenian Court of Auditors Court of Slovenia and former Slovenian Information Commissioner, is certainly one of the most competent collocutors for conversation about the fight against corruption, with particular emphasis on the need for a major input in that fight from transparency in the operations of public authorities, visibility of financial and material resources management and free access to information.

I am satisfied because our conversation reassured me I was right when I insisted that publicity of the Government's work should be increased continually and when I pointed out that providing more scope for free access to information is one of the least expensive and at the same time most efficient ways to fight abuses and corruption. It is possible to achieve considerable results in this field in relatively short periods of time by taking actions which do not imply excessive expenses and by increasing the transparency of public authorities' work, as the Slovenian experience clearly confirms.

We also fully agreed on the need to improve bilateral and regional cooperation of anti-corruption institutions operating in this region. I am very satisfied because we agreed in principle about those ways of cooperation and we will soon give substance to them, notably through assistance from our Slovenian counterparts to the Institution of which I am the head, especially as regards the exercise of functions under the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance. Any kind of assistance, especially if it could provide proper staff training and sharing of experiences, would be more than welcome. Slovenia achieved a long time ago some of the goals we are only setting now. It implemented one of the best, most efficient projects of EU integration and the anti-corruption results it achieved were indeed enviable. Slovenia today ranks much better on some relevant corruption indexes than many of the “old” EU Member-states. All of this, combined with the fact that Slovenia shares a common legal and political background with our country from some 70 years of living in a single state, seems to indicate that it is highly recommendable to try and make the most of Slovenian experiences. As the Commissioner for Information, I will strive to do so within the sphere of my competence.”