Freedom House: "Quiet Progress" in Balkans

In its annual report on the democratic development of 29 countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, the organisation noted declines in the democracy scores of 14 countries, including two in the Balkans.

Looking at key factors such as press freedom, governance, electoral process, civil society, judicial independence, and corruption, the report rated the countries on a score of 1-7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest.

It noted that over the past decade Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia have made "steady gains" in civil society and electoral process". In 2009, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia saw "modest improvements", while in Albania the report noted a slight decline in independent media and in Bosnia a decline in electoral process. Croatia and Montenegro, meanwhile, "held steady overall".

The report warned, however, that progress made over the past decade should not be taken for granted, especially in Bosnia, where it expressed concern over rising nationalism, and in Kosovo, where many challenges lie ahead for the country as it emerges from an international protectorate.

Despite major progress made by Albania in 2009 by joining NATO and filing its EU candidacy application, the country's national democratic governance score dropped from 4.25 to 4.50 due to the opposition's almost year long boycott of parliament over irregularities in the June 2009 elections.

Albania's independent media score also dropped, from 3.75 to 4, over concerns about the "increasing intimidation of investigative journalism and the influence of politics over media regulatory bodies".

The reports cites problems including the lack of transparency in the funding of print and electronic media, the need to push through a reform of the public service broadcaster, political influence on the media, and sporadic but still evident threats to journalists, such as the physical assault of Tema editor/journalist Mero Baze.

Bosnia, which the report noted has made general progress over the past decade, has crucially not yet addressed the European Court of Human Rights ruling that called for an end to the practice of banning minorities from running for the country's presidency or parliament based on their ethnic identity.

The report lowered the country's electoral process rating from 3.00 to 3.25 largely due to this situation.

Meanwhile, constant political disagreement took its toll on Bosnia's efforts to move towards EU and NATO membership and meet the conditions necessary for the closure of the international community's Office of the High Representative, OHR.

"Lack of agreement on any substantial issue advancing BiH toward EU membership and destructive, mutually exclusive ethnic politics prevented the ruling coalition from making progress in the democratic governance of the country and providing the conditions for full sovereignty, stability, and functionality of the state without international supervision," the report concludes, lowering the country's national democratic governance rating from 5.00 to 5.25.

While Bosnia's other ratings remain the same, Freedom House expresses concern that if concrete action is not taken to address the pressing problems in the country, the situation could deteriorate further this year, particularly as the 2010 general elections approach.

Croatia's ratings remained the same in 2010, with slow but steady progress noted in most areas. The report concluded that further steps toward the EU are likely to give the slow reform process a boost.

According to Freedom House, Kosovo's greatest achievement in 2009 was the implementation of decentralisation, which "was legitimized by sizeable Kosovo Serb participation in local elections in November and December". It described the elections as mostly successful, and the country's electoral process score rose from 4.50 to 4.25.

Improvements are also noted in local democratic governance and civil society.

Meanwhile, restrictions on free speech are identified as part of a negative trend, as well as the government's dominant role in the economy, which continues to grow, according to the report. High levels of corruption were also cited as a major concern.

Further progress in Macedonia was seen in decentralisation, judicial reform, and the fight against corruption. As in Croatia, the prospect of further movement towards European Union integration is considered a major impetus for greater reforms.

The reports notes the successful presidential elections in 2009 and improves the country's rating for electoral process as a result. Various reforms and campaigns upped Macedonia's corruption score as well, while its other scores remained unchanged from 2009.

Montenegro's ratings remained the same in 2010, with the exception of an improvement in its judicial independence score from 4.25 to 4.00 and a worsening of its independent media score from 3.75 to 4.0. 

Improvements to Montenegro's judicial system included the initiation of war crimes trials and the adoption of a new criminal procedure code, as well as a significant reduction in the number of unsolved cases. "According to the report of the Judicial Council, the courts processed 70 percent more cases in 2009 than in 2008." Challenges were still seen in the area of political influence on the system.

"Reports of violations of the journalistic code of ethics, disproportionate fines against the media in suits filed by political actors, and a physical attack by the mayor of Podgorica on a newspaper editor," were all cited as worrying developments and prompted the lowering of Montenegro's independent media score.

Serbia also saw negative developments concerning press freedoms, with the report noting controversial new laws and amendments governing the media, as well as recent attacks against journalists and still unsolved attacks and killings of journalists which leave the impression that such violence "increasingly appears to go unpunished".

The country did mark improvements in civil society, with its rating up from 2.75 to 2.50, and national democratic governance, where its rating improved from 4.00 to 3.75. In particular the report cites the adoption of the Statute of Vojvodina, which granted new powers to the province, and clear progress in the country's EU bid.

Bulgaria and Romania, both EU member states, continued to struggle with corruption, and the ratings of both remained at 4.00. Bulgaria's fight against corruption in 2009 was considered "inconsistent", while Romania's anti-corruption agencies were active and the parliament agreed to release files on MPs who had been charged with crimes.

Romania faced setbacks in other areas as well, notably in independent media, electoral process, and national democratic governance.