Transparency International report: Kosovo no progress in fighting corruption

In the annual report on the World Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International says corruption not only undermined the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but contributed to a continuing crisis of democracy.

According to Transparency International, two-thirds of the countries have either remained in the country or suffered decline in terms of the fight against corruption. Albania and Kosovo had 36 points in an index accounting system, where 100 points meant lack of corruption and zero, higher corruption.

Corruption continues to remain a major problem in Albania and Kosovo, which hinders democratic progress and restrains citizens' aspirations for a better life, according to Transparency International.

Compared to last year, Albania has one more point, while Kosovo has not changed scores of points, but both countries are in the group of high-corruption countries and without progress in the fight against it.

Albania is two places higher than last year, while Kosovo is three countries down, but the organisation itself costs more importance to the scores.

Our neurotechnology puts the most emphasis on the results of countries while rankings are always relative and depend on the performance of other countries”, says the Voice of America Lidija Prokic, Regional Council for Europe and Central Asia in this organisation.

Prokic says the impasse on this level for almost a decade shows shortcomings in rule of law.

“Without this functional rule of law, institutions are unable to work effectively and follow corruption cases”, she says.

Prokic also says that what affects lack of improvement is the political impact on the judicial system, lack of institutional capacity and the lack of independence of judicial institutions primarily to prosecute corruption cases.

These phenomena she says, she sees them both in Albania and Kosovo, as does the trend for lack of transparency when it comes to public procurement.

And I'm not just talking about the procurement process when the tenders are announced and placed, but this is also about managing public contracts. It is very important that this be done in a transparent manner and make sure that these contracts are not taken only by companies that are close to decision-makers in state institutions”, she says.

One of the aspects that has analysed for 2020, Transparency International is also the link between violations of democratic standards in response to COVID-19 and the level of corruption in the country. The higher the corruption, the greater the transgressions.

Albania

This year's report has analysed how all these shortcomings have been reflected in the consequences for COVID and Transparency International have faced problems in Albania.

We have noted concerns about transparency even in public procurement related to COVID. And this is something that really deserves a lot of attention from the government. It would be very encouraging if the government responded to those concerns”, Prokic says.

But concerns extend beyond the implementation of anti-corruption rules.

“has to do with dealing with civil society and dealing with independent media and investigative journalists. We are witnesses that their claims are often rejected and that they are treated as some kind of opposition instead of being seen as a corrective factor in society”.

Referring to the anti-poised package, Prokic says it is a very sensitive issue and that these actions have an impact on fighting corruption.

The “they not only violate citizens' freedom of expression but also curb, or rather have a frightening and paralyzing effect on people who could probably decide to report corruption cases or present evidence of corruption charges”, says Transparency International official.

Kosovo

The difference for Kosovo, says Prokic is in the specifics of political developments there.

Kosovo's “Situate is really overloaded with issues that are deeply political, and that has led I think to the impasse of anti-corruption efforts”, she says.

She adds that the institutional and legal framework is being formed and that gives reason for a cautious optimism.

But to say that the country is really trying to make profound changes, we need to see that those laws are being implemented and institutions are fully functional. And yet, unfortunately, there is”, she says.

Both Kosovo and Albania have room for improvement when it comes to media freedoms, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and civil society.

“Nivel of democracy is closely linked to effectiveness and success in fighting corruption”, says Prokic.

Chairmans and Joint Challenges in region

Bosnia and Herzegovina has suffered a seven-point decline since 2012 and thus represents disturbing cases in the region. Serbia has also suffered a four-point decline.

But that doesn't mean they're much worse than other countries. Even with this decline, Serbia has 38 points, two points more than Albania and Kosovo, while Bosnia and Herzegovina has 35 points -- a point less than Albania and Kosovo -- that is statistically the same level. Northern Macedonia also has 35 points.

But the gradual decline or the impasse in the Western Balkans has consequences that go beyond the abstraction of democratic norms.

When citizens see no improvement in the fight against corruption, they see no prospects for their future. And unfortunately, countries in the region are also among the countries with the largest brain drain on a global scale of”, Prokic says.

It needs to make institutions more effective for citizens to become more optimistic, she says.

Another point that highlights Prokic is the gap between adopting a legislative framework and implementing it. She even says this gap has been reflected in Transparency International's annual index.

The years when the results were higher for these countries were when institutions were being established or significant legislative changes designed for stronger control systems between the powers were being made, or for stronger anti-corruption legislation and implementation framework.

And now we see the tendency of falling or getting stuck which is another way of not making progress, but it's related to lack of implementation. When the lack of implementing laws that are relatively good is so widespread, we should ask ourselves whether governments are taking this matter seriously”, Prokic says.

It adds the European Commission's progress reports highlight this element as very significant.

And the other aspect is lack of balance and power sharing and a very strong influence of the executive branch on the legislative branch and the judiciary.

To succeed in fighting corruption, it is necessary for each of the branches of power to be able to control others, so that the media can be free and civil society will be free in its role of observer and governments and executives to implement laws rather than try to stem the voices of critics”, says Transparency International official./voa/