February 1 (SeeNews) - Fair election processes and the rule of law in the Balkans deteriorated further in 2016, while the EU failed to foster democracy values in countries aspiring to join, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House said.
"While there might have been deference to EU norms in the past, leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia harassed civil society critics, obstructed investigations of government wrongdoing, and ignored constitutional procedures even as EU accession talks went on, largely unfazed," Freedom House said in its latest report Freedom in the World published in January.
The 2017 edition covers developments in 195 countries and 14 territories worldwide from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.
"Progress toward democratic standards was being replaced by a toxic mix of nationalism, corruption, governmental dysfunction, and Russian interference", the US-based non-governmental organisation said, refering to the Balkans region.
The index elaborated by Freedom House measures changes in political rights and civil liberties. "Political rights" category represents an evaluation of the electoral process, the political pluralism and participation, and the functioning of the government in the respective country. "Civil liberties" category comprises basic democratic values, such as freedom of expression and belief, associational and organisational rights, rule of law, personal autonomy and individual rights.
An aggregate score of these two criteria determines the status of the country, as "free", "partly free" or "not free". In the region of Southeast Europe (SEE), EU member states Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and non-EU Serbia were described as "free", whereas the rest of the countries were evaluated as "partly free". Kosovo had the lowest score in the index, whereas Slovenia ranked best among the SEE countries.
No Balkan country changed its freedom status in the index compared to the previous edition, but Bosnia and Herzegovina had a lower rating in the "civil liberties" category, whereas Serbia's total score decreased due to a lower score in the "political rights" category.
In the previous edition of the Freedom in the World index Montenegro's status deteriorated to "partly free".
Details about the performance of the SEE countries follow:
Country |
Freedom Status'17 |
Freedom Score'17 |
Freedom Status'16 |
Freedom Score'16 |
Albania |
Partly Free |
68 |
Partly Free |
67 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Partly Free |
55 |
Partly Free |
57 |
Bulgaria |
Free |
80 |
Free |
80 |
Croatia |
Free |
87 |
Free |
87 |
Kosovo |
Partly Free |
52 |
Partly Free |
52 |
Macedonia |
Partly Free |
57 |
Partly Free |
57 |
Moldova |
Partly Free |
62 |
Partly Free |
60 |
Montenegro |
Partly Free |
69 |
Partly Free |
70 |
Romania |
Free |
84 |
Free |
83 |
Serbia |
Free |
76 |
Free |
78 |
Slovenia |
Free |
92 |
Free |
92 |
source: Freedom House