SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), June 2 (SeeNews) – Much of South East Europe (SEE) saw its score worsen in the 2017 edition of the Global Peace Index due to heightened nationalist rhetoric and political instability, the Institute for Economic and Peace (IEP) has said.
"An increase in nationalist rhetoric led to a deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, while Montenegro (67th) saw a strong increase in political instability following a tumultuous election in October 2016 that involved an alleged attempted coup", Sydney-headquartered IEP said in the eleventh edition of its Global Peace Index released on Thursday.
According to the index, Slovenia was the most peaceful country in SEE last year, moving up three spots to 7th position in the world, while Macedonia ranked last in the region and 102nd out of 163 countries surveyed in the ranking.
Bosnia and Herzegovina saw the largest drop, of 21 spots to 84th position, owing to a deterioration in both the level of internal conflict, and its relations with neighbouring countries.
The fall in peacefulness in Bosnia and Herzegovina was also echoed in the region more generally, with both Serbia and Croatia also experiencing decline in peacefulness, the IEP found.
IEP each year ranks countries based on numerous peace indicators such as homicide rates, relations with neighbouring countries, the ease of access to weapons and the impact of terrorism, among other criteria.
Overall, IEP found that the world became more peaceful last year, however, over the last decade it had become significantly less peaceful.
The GPI covers 99.7% of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators. It measures the state of peace using three
thematic domains: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the
degree of militarisation.
Iceland has maintained its position as the most peaceful country in the world in the 2017 GPI and has been ranked as the world’s most peaceful country every year since 2008.
Following is detailed data about the ranking of SEE countries:
|
World Index |
Change |
Europe |
Slovenia |
7 |
+3 |
6 |
Romania |
25 |
+5 |
17 |
Bulgaria |
28 |
flat |
19 |
Croatia |
31 |
flat |
20 |
Serbia |
56 |
-3 |
28 |
Albania |
57 |
+1 |
29 |
Montenegro |
67 |
-7 |
31 |
Kosovo |
76 |
+10 |
33 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
84 |
-21 |
34 |
Macedonia |
102 |
-7 |
35 |