The Regional Conference “Building Integrity from Within: Strengthening Internal Control Procedures for a Corruption-Free Future” was held in Chisinau for two days. The event, organized by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Chisinau, brought together integrity and anti-corruption experts and officials from Moldova, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.
“Our conference brings together representatives of internal control directorates from 10 ministries of internal affairs in the region. We brought them together to exchange ideas, experiences, and lessons learned in their engagement, to fight corruption, and to build the integrity of police and law enforcement systems in their countries. And to learn together and get inspired on how corruption, a transnational phenomenon, can be fought more effectively”, says Teodora Fuior, DCAF representative.
During the sessions, participants discussed the importance of good governance and transparency as essential tools in the fight against corruption.
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“Any mechanism that reduces the risks and vulnerabilities to corruption is important because only in a society where the principle of transparency is respected, only in a society where public services are very accessible, can we speak of a true democracy. In the Ministry of Interior, we use several tools. There has been an increase in the number of whistleblowing by employees in the system, which shows the effect of those training or training of employees. Just by comparison – in 2022, we had more than 70 such cases, and in 2024, we have about 350 police officers who reported corruption,” says Daniella Misail-Nichitin, Minister of Internal Affairs.
Sweden remains a dependable partner for Moldova in combating corruption, offering expertise and resources to advance national reform efforts.
“For us, anti-corruption efforts are both a challenge in themselves and a focus across all our initiatives in Moldova. We are partnering with DCAF to address this issue, as we are doing at this conference today. We are looking at internal accountability systems and support for the EU integration process because this will be essential for Moldova to become part of the EU one day. But this is not just a goal. It is something that will be a foundation of Moldovan society. And we are looking at how to address this in our specific project. So it is a broad issue for us, where we are doing our best to support Moldova in every area,” says Katarina Fried, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Moldova.
The conference emphasized the need for an integrated and coordinated approach to fight corruption at all levels. Participants agreed that they can build a corruption-free future only by working together and promoting a culture of integrity.
