Freedom House comes with a report on the Kosovo negotiations process- Serbia

In this year's report titled “The war deepens regional divisions” that analyses developments in 2022 and that was made public Wednesday, it is said that instead of strengthening ties in the region,” security threats, the historical refugee crisis and conflict-related economic problems have deepened the gap between autism and democracies and caused divisive changes in the foreign policies of individual governments”

“Although several countries made clear elections in favour of a more democratic future during 2022, the overall result was a 19th consecutive year of the collapse of democracy in the region”, the report said.

Kosovo and the Negota Process

Kosovo marked a slight improvement from 3.25 last year to 3.29 this year.

The long- tense relations between Serbia and Kosovo continued to undermine democratic progress in both countries, though in various ways. Enormous efforts by Kosovo's civil society to implement positive policy changes on gender-based violence and ethnic divisions were overshadowed during the year by an increase of violence in the Serb majority north, where the Serbian government's influence and actions continue to undermine Kosovo's authority over its territory”, the report said.

“has made a big impression on the role civil society has played in Kosovo during the last year”, said Mrs. Carppi, adding that it can play an active role even in resolving the situation with Serbia.

We think there are two people running this process: Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Alexander. I think the EU can do much more in running these negotiations brought into the negotiations process to bring the voices of civil society and the perspective of ordinary citizens, especially those in North”, says Mrs. Carppi.

The report also cites the lack of success in negotiations between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, despite efforts by the European Union and the United States.

The state of democracy in Albania

Even in 2022, Albania was in the category of hybrid/democracy regimes in transition. Albania's overall assessment marked a slight breakthrough in 2022 compared to 2021, thanks to an increase in assessment in the fight against corruption.

The assessment of the fight against corruption increased from 2.75 points to 3.00 points, thanks to a series of acts and high profile sentences of former officials from the Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Task Force (SPAK), as well as its proactive role in promoting the fight against corruption and organised crime”, the report said.

This caused the overall assessment to rise from 3.75 to 3.79, to an estimate of between 1 and 7 points, where 1 is the lowest level of democracy is 7 higher.

However, other indicators of democracy remained unchanged, and the report says Albania's democratic institutions are challenged by party customer policies, procrastinating the process of belonging to justice and rampant corruption.

“Corruption remains widespread, contributing to the failure of the public institution and limiting its ability to provide effective services. Although new law enforcement agencies such as SPAK, created in 2019, show promising signs in fighting corruption and organised crime at the highest levels, the political impact on the judiciary in corruption cases still continues to be concern”, says the report's “chapter of Albania, the countries in Transition 2023”, which the Voice of America has secured.

The basic direction for many Albanian citizens is indeed lacking. And it's also an environment, like most of the region, where independent media are shrinking, civil society actors are in a difficult position, adding more and more obstacles and threats”, says the Voice of America, Alexander Carppi, one of the authors of the report.

Despite modest improvement in the corruption index, the report says there were little opportunity for further reforms before the May 14th local elections this year.

Mrs. Carppy says about Voice of America, that even the May 14th local elections reinforced this trend.

“I think that the local elections that were just held in May were another example that unfortunately, due to the state capture networks from certain parties, suggest we see the same thing. I think the status quo is likely to continue”, she says.

In the chapter for Albania, it is said that in 2022, Albania's democracy resisted numerous challenges, especially during the March special local elections, as well as domestic reshuffles of political parties and interparty co-operation for the election of President Bajram Begaj.

“However, the country made little steady progress towards becoming a real liberal democracy and is still classified as a hybrid democracy. Most Albanian political leaders remained hostile to liberal democratic values and have shown little appreciation for the fact that equality under law and respect of the rule of law are important democratic values”, the report said.

According to Freedom House <x0); the majority of political parties are dominated by leaders with iron fists, and this lack of domestic party democracy was demonstrated in the way candidates for local special elections were selected, local party leaders and local elections candidates May 2023 (report only includes developments in 2022).

According to the report, political clashes in Democratic Party (PD) that saw a return of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha to the political scene and leaving the course of the country. Lulzim Basha's DP after the March 6th local partial elections, where in five out of six races Prime Minister Edi Rama's ruling Socialist Party (PS) dominated Albania's political scene in 2022 and major rifts among the respective party factions continue.

“Public Debat and media focused more on the DP's internal dynamic than on the social and economic problems facing the country and the need to seek accounts from the government of Prime Minister Rama”, the chapter for Albania says.

During 2022, a number of political journalists faced verbal abuses, a ban on participation in press conferences, intimidation, large fines, and even indictments, the report says.

It is estimated that the European Union opened accession talks with Albania in July 2022, named by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a historical “m> ” and Albania organised the first-time EU summit, the EU-Western Balkans, in December.

The two cases represent significant foreign policy successes for Albania. However, despite the progress made since the fall of communism, including the sentences of high-level officials for abuse of power and corruption in 2022, thanks to SPAK's commitment, many public institutions remain dysfunctional due to widespread corruption and the culture of impunity, undermining democracy and rule of law”, the chapter for Albania provided by the Voice of America says.

According to the report, although Albania generally respects international human rights instruments, the country still fails to protect fundamental rights as a fundamental value supporting a liberal democratic society, citing the study of BIRN, under which “around 320 cases of sexual abuse occurred in 2020-22, identities, households, personal information and the addresses of victims' homes were widely published in media”, leading to several suicides and targeting by human trafficking.

The report also cites the killings of 10 women by their partners and the discrimination of individuals in the LGBT+ community, Roma and Egyptian minorities.

Instead of holding abusers responsible, public authorities and local politicians often blame victims and even reveal their names and identity in the media, leading to their double victimisation. As such, Albania has so far neglected its institutional responsibilities to protect basic human rights and civil liberties, values that are fundamental to a genuine liberal democracy”, the report said.

National Democratic Governance and Election Process

Given elections and dynamics within the main political parties, including Mr. Berisha's return, the end of former President Ilir Meta's mandate and his return to active politics, as well as elections in the Socialist Party, the report notes the role of leaders.

“Observers claim that these internal elections in Albania's three main political parties ( The DP, PL and SP) were predetermined and highly influenced by party leaders, instead of being the result of a genuine party internal competition. This highlights Albania's limited domestic party democracy, where party leaders guard with iron fists of control, with autocratic rule”, the report said.

As for the election of President Bajram Begaj, the report notes that although it initially appeared there was an effort for a consensual president, below “in spite of the fact that (he) was considered a political candidate, the ruling SP chose Begajn”, with its votes.

“Since the EU has urged Albania to show more commitment to interparty co-operation, experts argued that both sides lost an opportunity to demonstrate co-operation in electing a common candidate for president”, the report said.

Prime Minister Rama conducted the cabinet's reshuffle in July, replacing Arben Ahmetajn with Belinda Balluk as deputy prime minister. Ahmetaj's dismissal sparked concerns about the government's process of granting public procurement contracts.

Speaking on the intensive issue, the report reportedly says that, according to observers, if the SPAK could prove the charges, it would likely expose corrupt activities of various senior politicians, including ties with suspicious interests and organised crime networks.

The report says that the race ahead preceding Altin Duman's election as the new SPAK chairman was marked by concerns about possible political interference.

“On the eve of the vote, Albania's ambassador to the United States, Yuri Kim, expressed concern over the political pressure in choosing SPAK leader, which the Albanian government rejected”, the report said.

Corruption and Independence of Judicial

Thanks to SPAK's activity, the fight against corruption was the only direction in which Albania marked slight improvement.

The report cites former Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri's sentence to three and a half years in prison for abuse of office -- the highest profile issue the SPAK has successfully followed since its establishment in 2019.

It also mentions the arrest of SP deputy Alqi Blaco, on charges of taking bribes of 120,000 dollars while he was secretary general of the Environment Ministry.

He is accused of helping a company win a public contract for inscientators. Blaako was released from prison in October and is under house arrest, while the SPAK investigates three contracts for intensives.

The report also cited the arrest of some public officials with links to these ongoing issues, which are already the target of SPAK's corruption and abuse of office investigations.

Among those arrested is former Environment Minister Lefter Coca.

The remaining <x0 accounts were the main topic of corruption charges in Albania during the year”, the report states that the charges were originally raised by Andrew Shaban, of the Initiative #Thurje, and then by Deputy Mayor Kryegri, former LSI leader, now Freedom Party, as well as the Democratic Party, which opened the parliamentary investigation in March led by Parliament member Jorida Tabaku.

The investigation reviewed the legal process under which the government had awarded contracts for the construction of three waste inspectors in the Elbasan municipalities (2014), Fier (2016) and Tirana (2017) dealt with a total worth of 178m euros.

“During the hearing session, a government spokesman indirectly accepted some irregularities in contract-making criteria, where companies that received the contracts were the only ones making bids”, the report said.

“Since public procurement contracts last up to 30 years, it is estimated that these irregularities have cost Albanian taxpayers about 50m euros. The exact amount of taxpayers' misused money may never be known, making this procurement scandal one of the most controversial political issues in the country”, says Freedom House's report.

As for justice and the judiciary, the report cites concerns about procrastinating the property process, adding that under pressure from the EU and the US, the Assembly agreed to extend the verification process until December 31st, 2024.

“Pressure from civil and political society on the judicial property process has increased as delays in the justice system have caused legal, social, economic and political challenges in Albania. Access to justice has deteriorated, and according to experts now more than three and a half years to start or complete procedures due to the lack of judges”, the report says, which continues that “since the reform of 2017, the judicial system has failed to attract new recruits and is on the verge of collapse”.

Regarding the new justice map, Freedom House says that while international actors defending judicial reform in Albania praised the map, it has been sharply criticised by numerous lawyers' associations and civil society, which say that the “number of courts will harm citizens' access to justice and increase the cost of the judicial process, as some citizens will have to travel over 200 kilometers to reach court”.

In protest of the new court map, the Albanian Lawyer's Chamber instructed its members to boycott all judicial processes in July 2022, and lawyers across the country have refused to offer legal services.

“against government claims to increase judicial efficiency, legal state observers argue that reforms give priority to judicial effectiveness”, the report said.

According to Freedom House, all these problems “have created distrust of justice”.

Status of Media and Civil Society

The report expresses concern about the media situation, citing pressure from political interests to curb media surveillance and manipulate the media initiative to serve party agendas. Freedom House cites Albania's decline with several positions in the Reporters Without Borders Index.

The majority of the media in Albania are owned by businesspeople with close ties to politicians and/or organised crime networks and serve as spokespersons for these” interests, the report says.

Some journalists were attacked blindly and/or physically for their coverage. According to the report, the Albanian General Tax Directorate imposed high fines for different networks and television media, as well as companies that have them on property for critical coverage of the government.

In view of the unclear nature of ownership and media financing in Albania, it is difficult to analyse the precise motives behind such large fines or any possible link between politics and media ownership”, the report said.

The report cites the slander indictment against journalist Isa Myzyray, after he reported on the inexplicable assets of former prosecutor Elizabeth Imerij, her failure to pass the judicial property process and its dismissal.

Elvis Hila was threatened with news of forged court documents in Lezha and he and his wife were physically attacked the day after he delivered the news.

The Union of Albanian Journalists and Reporters Without Borders confirmed that Myzyray, Hila and other journalists have been targeted by organised crime groups, individuals linked politically and corrupt officers within the police and justice system.

The Quick Response Organisation for Media Freedom (MFRR) notes that Albania is failing to protect journalists and the free press.

According to the report in 2022, the opinion-format TV shows became a major tool for dezinformation driven by political interests and owners' connections, and not by facts é “sic is seen in the reflection of the Basha-Berisha power struggle, accusations of corruption against government officials for abuse in public contract management, and the role of organised crime in human trafficking and the migration of Albanians to Britain.

One example of the report is the one following the report's report of American intelligence on Russian money, including the case of $500,000 of the DP's Russian-related dollars on the eve of the 2017 general election.

“Gasers asked former DP leader Lulzim Basha if he would resign and take responsibility for the charges of Russian money. Basha responded with disparaging remarks and later some journalists were detained by future press conferences”, the report said.

Also, some journalists have been attacked blindly during the reflection of protests and violent clashes outside the DP headquarters and divisions between Basha and Berisha for the party's leadership.

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In response to this printing of press freedom, journalists protested outside the prime minister's office in July, demanding better treatment of journalists from politicians throughout the political spectrum.

As for civil society, in 2022 civic movements in Albania became more organized in support of issues that traditional nongovernmental organizations and civil society have usually ignored.

This mentions the case of “Dyspora for a Free Albania”, which raised a case against the Constitutional Court seeking recognition of the right of Albanians living abroad to vote in parliamentary elections.

In December, the court ruled that parliament had violated the constitution by not allowing Albanians living abroad to vote in the 2021 parliamentary elections and ordered that the diaspora be allowed to vote abroad in the upcoming parliamentary elections”, said the Albanian chapter that has read the Albanian Voice of America service.

Also, says the report, researcher Fabian Dzilla organised a petition with over 10,000 signatures asking the Parliament to regulate programmes <x0-reality show” and order the Audiovisive Media Authority to reinforce and implement current legislation on TV programs that spread hate language.

These moves show that civil society members are becoming more organised as the Albanian public becomes more aware of how to use democratic means, in part because of social media platforms and technological advances”, the report says.

According to the report, one of the key preconditions for EU membership for Albania is for the Nongovernmental Organisations and Civil Society to be included in consultations when laws are drafted.

However, according to the report, their concerns about the new judicial map even when the Ministry of Justice and the High Judicial Council finally engulfed them after initial neglect, were rejected.

The Albanian Helsinki Committee has repeatedly exposed how the newly reformed Parliament and High Judicial Council have not taken into account the proposals of NGOs and civil society, or citizens' concerns about access to justice, including high costs and logistical challenges resulting from court reshuffles.

According to observers, these failures are a recurring topic in Albania.

Western Balkans Between Hope and Disillusionment

All the Western Balkan, non-EU countries were hybrid/democracy regimes in transition, and democrat institutions continued to be fragile in 2022. According to the report, in the countries of the Western Balkans, the voices of civil society and citizens are disfellowshipped.

“throughout the Western Balkans, the policy focused on elites and diplomacy, has ruled out the voices of civil society and ordinary citizens, allowing anti-democratic and authoritarian leaders to control the country's future”, the report says.

Modest improvements in Albania, Kosovo and northern Macedonia were balanced with the declines in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Serbia's result remained unchanged.

Although the results in the report put Albania near northern Macedonia and Montenegro in terms of democratic development, polls suggest Albanians are more optimistic than EU membership would offer not only economic prosperity but also improved democratic standards.

The Freedom House organisation's Alexandra Carppi says the EU and US's increased commitment to both Kosovo-Serbia talks, even wider in the region, is positive.

“Yet these are elite-run processes that can do more to reflect the perspective of nongovernmental citizens and actors”, she says.

Citizens of EU candidate countries continued to largely support membership in the bloc. However, they doubt membership will come soon.

Serbs are a clear exception, with the highest scepticism for its benefits from membership.

According to the report, the lack of hope has contributed to the ecstasy from the region. A fifth of those born in the Western Balkans have left their countries.

The report suggests the need for an energetic re-agement by the EU for integration and warns that abandoning the West paves the way for interference and influence by authoritarian powers.

This is seen by Moscow's continued efforts to spread dezination and establish political ties in the region”, the report says.

But Freedom House stresses that they are the leaders of the countries that must bring democratic progress to their citizens.