Illicit finance poses a threat for transparency, fairness and public trust, putting democratic processes at risk. Strengthening oversight, enforcement and cooperation among institutions is crucial to ensure citizens can exercise their right to free and fair elections. The Council of Europe and the European Union are jointly supporting capacity-building and regional cooperation on political finance oversight in the Eastern Partnership countries.
A two-day regional workshop brought together practitioners from Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, working on the prevention and investigation of corruption, money laundering, and terrorist financing in the context of elections and political party funding. Included officials from electoral management bodies, anti-corruption agencies, financial intelligence units, law enforcement authorities and prosecution services, reflecting the cross-institutional cooperation required throughout the electoral cycles.
The workshop focused on strengthening participants ability to detect and address risks linked to illicit finance in elections. It focused on international standards on transparency and political finance oversight, including emerging risks linked to misuse of funds, the use of crypto assets, digital tools, third-party campaigning and foreign interference. Participants explored how political finance records can be used as intelligence to support parallel corruption and money laundering investigations during election periods.
A key focus of the workshop remained on improving cooperation among the different institutions responsible for electoral integrity. Through peer exchange and the sharing of good practices, participants identified practical approaches to strengthen coordination between oversight, investigative and enforcement bodies within their existing legal and institutional frameworks, strengthening both national responses and regional coherence.
By building institutional capacity across national agencies, the workshop contributed to the detection and prevention of illicit finance impeding the integrity of elections in the Eastern Partnership region. Stronger oversight and coordinated enforcement will help reduce the influence of illicit money on political processes, reinforcing transparency, fairness and public trust. For citizens, this means stronger safeguards for their right to free and fair elections.
This event is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the regional project on “Strengthening measures to prevent and combat economic crime in the Eastern Partnership region”.
