SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 25 (SeeNews) – Most countries in the Balkans continue to make only fitful progress in democratisation and Slovenia is the only consolidated democratic regime in Southeastern Europe (SEE), independent watchdog organisation Freedom House said.
Among non-EU members in the region, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro have worse democracy scores now than they did five years ago, Freedom House said in its Nations in Transit report.
In Macedonia, presidential and early parliamentary elections in April 2014 were marred by progovernment media bias and abuse of administrative resources, leading to another long-term parliamentary boycott by opposition deputies, Freedom House said. "The government continues to pursue a number of positive EU-mandated institutional reforms, but worrying developments in the last few years have called into question the ruling party’s commitment to political pluralism and transparency."
In Montenegro, a popular tabloid launched a smear campaign against a NGO, and several activists while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, strong ties between publishers, reporters, and politicians have nearly eradicated truly independent journalism.
According to the report, Croatia’s democratic institutions are still considered “semiconsolidated” because of the country’s overwhelmed court system, its struggles with high-level corruption, and the pressure and intimidation frequently faced by its journalists.
The Albanian government has initiated some welcome reforms and taken preliminary steps to combat corruption but the country's court system has yet to establish a track record of high-level prosecutions, Freedom House noted, adding that the weakness of investigative journalism is compounded by pervasive organised crime.
In Serbia, which registered a decline in its independent media rating for 2014, the government blocked media criticism of its response to flooding which devastated parts of the country in May that year, Freedom House commented. "Cyberattacks, threats against journalists, and economic pressure led to increased self-censorship and a decrease in investigative reporting throughout the year," it added.
Media in Kosovo continue to suffer from problems common to most of its neighbours, particularly progovernment bias at public broadcasters, self-censorship caused by editorial pressure from political leaders and private owners, and harassment or attacks on journalists that usually go unpunished
On the opposite end of the table, Slovenia ranks as the most democratic country in the survey, which covers 29 nations in transit in Europe and Asia.
Another EU member state in the region, Romania, escalated its prosecution of high-level corruption cases, resulting in its first ratings improvement in that category since 2007 but media bias and polling problems for citizens living abroad during the presidential election led to a decline in the country's electoral process rating.
In its southern neighbour Bulgaria the judiciary has benefited from reforms implemented in connection with EU accession, but the court system’s failure to curb organized crime through convictions and asset seizures remains a serious problem, as do nontransparent and uncompetitive appointment procedures in the country’s highest judicial bodies, Freedom House said. The politicized Supreme Judicial Council has proved unable to elect a new chair for the Supreme Court of Cassation, leaving the post vacant for three months, it recalled.
In May, a member of the Sofia city prosecutor’s office launched a probe into President Rosen Plevneliev’s dealings with an international energy and environmental services company. The parliamentary investigation that accompanied the judicial probe was spearheaded by the far-right party Ataka and supported by the then ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party, of which Plevneliev had been critical, the organisation also said.