April 11 (SeeNews) - Croatia did not make real progress on any democratic indicator last year, despite expectations for a positive change, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House said on Wednesday.
"In the media sphere, there has been an involution in the independence of the public broadcaster Croatian Radio and Television (HRT), which was only partially offset by the rising influence of new outlets such as the broadcaster N1 and some online media platforms," Freedom House said in its Nations in Transit 2018 report.
The sustainability of not-for-profit media came under threat as a result of considerable loss of public funding and the government's reluctance to allocate EU resources that were meant for them.
The state of Croatia's judicial system deteriorated visibly last year, according to the report.
"Croatia’s judiciary was already in bad shape due to politicization of the body tasked with choosing judges, the National Judicial Council (DSV), and of appointments to Croatia’s most powerful tribunal – the Constitutional Court. But in 2017, the government reshuffle in the spring crushed hopes of a wholesome improvement for the foreseeable future," Freedom House said.
In May, right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) replaced the Most party, its junior partner in the government coalition, with the Liberal Democrats (HNS) and several smaller parties.
The crisis in Croatia's judiciary was highlighted by some high-profile cases, in which the independence and impartiality of the judiciary was bitterly disputed, Freedom House said.
This year, the big test for Croatia will be the election of the second mandate of the Commission for the Prevention of the Conflict of Interest, which will show whether Croatian politicians are prepared to stand independent scrutiny, Freedom House noted in its report.
Details from the Nations in Transit 2018 report follow, with the scores based on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 represents the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest:
Croatia |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
National Democratic Governance |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.75 |
Electoral Process |
3 |
3 |
3 |
Civil Society |
2.75 |
2.75 |
2.75 |
Independent Media |
4 |
4.25 |
4.25 |
Local Democratic Governance |
3.75 |
3.75 |
3.75 |
Judicial Framework and Independence |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
Corruption |
4.25 |
4.25 |
4.25 |
Democracy Score |
3.68 |
3.71 |
3.75 |
source: Freedom House