Journalists from the Western Balkans and Türkiye submitted more than 260 applications to the Call for EU Investigative Journalism Award 2023. A total of 267 applications have been submitted for the EU Investigative Journalism Award 2023, encompassing both national and regional categories. These applications came from seven different countries. This prestigious award honours exceptional investigative stories published in the preceding calendar year. From the pool of received applications, the evaluation jury will choose the top three stories from each of the seven countries, resulting in 21 selected stories. This selection process ensures that the most outstanding works from each country are recognized and acknowledged. This year, the EU Award has introduced an exciting addition in the form of a regional award. This category seeks to recognise the finest stories that transcend national boundaries and address issues of significance to the entire region. By creating this new category, the award aims to inspire journalists to broaden their perspective and tackle matters that have a broader impact.

A separate evaluation jury will be established to evaluate the regional award submissions. This dedicated panel will review all entries and select the three stories that have the most substantial regional impact. This initiative will foster a sense of collaboration among journalists and encourage them to delve into regional matters that affect a wider audience. In the past four years, 84 investigative stories from the Western Balkans and Türkiye produced by 124 journalists were awarded. These stories contributed to resolving cases of power misuse, corruption, organised crime, pollution of the ecosystem, and other wrongdoings. The EU Award for Investigative Journalism 2023 is part of the project “Strengthening Quality Journalism in Western Balkans and Türkiye II”. This aims to recognise and promote outstanding achievements in investigative journalism as well as improve the visibility of quality journalism in the Western Balkans and Türkiye.