The Economist: Political parties in Kosovo have remained in power by manipulating

Western Balkan countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia suffer some “wrestling”.
So says a report from the magazine's Unit, the “The Economist: The Western Balkans in 2025: A brighter future or permanent marginalization?

According to findings in the report, the region is reportedly characterized by a major geopolitical danger. Security risks include a series of bilateral disputes, the existence of hostilities from the war period of the 1990s, and the risk of Islamic fundamentalistism.

Moreover, the European Union has also noted geopolitical competition in the region from China, Russia and Turkey.

Factors that can affect political and unstable risks include ethnic divisions, low level of trust in Government, history of conflicts, high unemployment, access to small weapons, risk of terrorism, international tension, human rights abuse, and large numbers of refugees and displaced persons, writes REL.

The report cites how in 2003, at a summit in Thessaloniki, EU leaders have promised Balkan states that the door to membership in the bloc will be open to them.
Fifteen years later, such a thing remains a distant prospect for the six Balkan countries, until some EU leaders have declared that 2018 is an extremely important year for this region, citing the resolution of long-term conflicts, which have also impacted the extension of the membership process.

After a turning point in the 27-year dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, leaders hope that such an end will be created for Kosovo's status as well.

This will be among the key messages at the Western Balkan Summit, to be held in London on July 10th this year.

In another entity report showing the democracy index in 2017, Serbia was ranked 66th among states and territories, being named the only country with the lame “democracy” in the region.

All other countries are ranked among the countries with “mixed regimes”, where Albania is ranked 77th, Montenegro is 83rd and Macedonia is listed 88th.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is last on its list of countries in this regard, to 101st place respectively.

The report also mentions that Montenegro, and until recently, even Macedonia has been countries in which de facto there has been only one party for a decade, which have led as a result of voter manipulation and customer networks.

As far as Kosovo is concerned, the report stresses that despite having had competitive political parties in this country, power has been effectively monopolized by a clientlist elite led mainly by Kosovo wartime leaders who have been part of a guerrilla uprising against Serbian rule in 1998-99 and that through election manipulation they have remained in power.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's parties, whose power dates back to the 1992-1995 war period, enjoy dominance as a result of political and ethnic differences.

As for Serbia, it is estimated that the president, Aleksandar Vuciq, has reached the level of powers he has through a continued campaign of electorate and control over the media.
Among the clarifications offered for the “bringing back” of the Western Balkans in recent years, problems remain the relatively low level of economic development in the region, Russia's geopolitical influence and the lack or failure of the implementation of EU required reforms.