The Association of External Public Auditors is following with attention and concern the debates of recent days in the media and the public clashes concerning the leadership and activity of the Supreme Audit Institution (KLSH).

As an independent civil-society and professional organisation, established with the mission of protecting the standards of the profession and the integrity of public auditors, the Association considers it necessary to issue this public position:

Distancing the audit corps from media and political polemics: The audit corps of the Supreme Audit Institution consists of dedicated professionals in the field, whose work is deeply technical and rigorously based solely on the law, documentation and objective evidence. The Association stresses that public auditors and the results of their work must in no case be drawn in, undermined or instrumentalised in ongoing media debates and clashes.

The inviolability of the auditor’s professional opinion: Audit reports and findings are not a matter of political or media interpretation, but the product of independent professional analysis. Every KLSH auditor has the fundamental right and the legal duty to express their professional opinion freely, undisturbed and uninfluenced by any pressure, whether internal and administrative or external, political or public.

The need for institutional calm and the protection of public trust: Auditing requires objectivity, impartiality and full professional security. Harsh rhetoric and media instrumentalisation seriously damage the working climate of the audit corps and risk undermining public confidence in the mechanisms of financial control and accountability in the country.

In every case where either party holds evidence and facts in support of its claims, the matter should be referred to the competent bodies for examination, without involving or generalising all auditors or former auditors of KLSH in this situation.

The Association of External Public Auditors, as an independent civil-society and professional organisation, will continue unwaveringly to support the KLSH audit corps, calling on all institutional actors and the media to respect their essential role, their human and professional dignity, and the inviolable independence of their judgement.