SRT Newsletter – July 2026

Grantee News:

The Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) has welcomed new legislation that has come into force simplifying residency proceduresfor foreign volunteers and humanitarian workers supporting Ukraine. Developed with input from CEDEM and civil society partners, the reforms remove visa barriers and create new routes for volunteers affected by wartime disruptions to regularise their status.

The Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA)’s latest polling found that six in ten Serbian citizens believe democracy is the best political system, but the same proportion believe it is not functioning in practice. Published ahead of elections in October, the survey also found sustained support for the student-led protest movement and greater support for closer ties with the EU (42%) than with Russia (30%).

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s co-founders Drew Sullivan and Paul Radu have received the 2026 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Guardian Award, recognising journalists whose pursuit of the truth has significantly contributed to the fight against fraud. The award honours their work building OCCRP into a global investigative network exposing corruption, organised crime, and financial fraud across borders.

BIRN Montenegro director Vuk Maraš was barred from entering Serbiaafter arriving at Belgrade Airport, in a move condemned by Reporters Without Borders and other media freedom organisations. The entry ban came amid growing tensions over independent media reporting and follows a similar restriction imposed on another Montenegrin journalist.

Transparency International Hungary has revealed that the Orbán government unlawfully allocated more than HUF 160 billion in public funds (over £370 million) through non-public government resolutions, following a years-long legal battle to obtain the records. The organisation has also submitted recommendations on proposed legislation establishing a new National Asset Recovery and Protection Office.

The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) has helped develop North Macedonia’s first new journalistic Code of Ethicsin more than two decades. Launched this month, the code updates professional standards to address digital journalism, social media and AI, aiming to strengthen ethical reporting and public trust in the media.

Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) has paid tribute to Lebanese fact-checker Alaa Salman, a member of its Arab Fact Checkers Network, killed in an Israeli strike on her family’s home. This came days after Lebanese journalist Hadi Hoteit was injured while reporting on Israeli strikes, and the same week an Israeli attack in Gaza killed Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmad Samir Washah, the 12^th Al Jazeera journalist killed since October 2023, less than three months after his brother, journalist Mohammed Washah, was killed in a separate strike.

The Center for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro (CZIP), Birdlife’s partner in Montenegro, has welcomed the government’s adoption of a proposal for the Natura 2000 ecological network, placing more than half of the country’s land area and important marine habitats on a path towards formal protection. This marks a major step for biodiversity conservation in Montenegro and follows nearly a decade of work by CZIP and its partners. The grantee writes: “We couldn’t have made it without SRT support, as it provided us with financial security to do the work that no other donor funds, the work that generates the greatest results when it comes to nature protection at the end of the road, so I consider this a joint victory.”

Watershed Investigations has received the 2026 Prix du Journalisme Environnemental for Toxic Ground, a joint investigation with Investigate Europe into the environmental risks posed by more than 60,000 current and historic landfill sites across Europe. The project uncovered thousands of sites in flood-risk areas, drinking water protection zones and important wildlife habitats, with judges praising its original data analysis, reporting and cross-border collaboration.

ClientEarth has launched a landmark legal complaint against Belgium over its failure to tackle PFAS “forever chemicals”, which have contaminated drinking water and ecosystems across the country. The case argues that Belgium has failed to protect people’s right to health and seeks stronger action to address what is considered the highest level of PFAS pollution in Europe.

Wildlife and Countryside Link and The Rivers Trust have found hazardous flame-retardant chemicals in most English rivers and at unsafe levels in every fish sample analysed. The research highlights the UK’s unusually high use of these persistent pollutants and calls for stronger controls as the Government reviews furniture fire-safety regulations.

Third Act co-founder Bill McKibben appeared on the NYTimes’ The Ezra Klein Show to discuss the accelerating global transition to clean energy and the movement’s work to overcome political barriers in the US. He highlighted Third Act’s recent campaigning to simplify rooftop solar permitting and to help legalise plug-in balcony solar, which has now been authorised in ten states.