Serbia and the US are among 25 countries where political and civil liberties have recorded the most significant fall in the last decade, the Freedom House (FH) says in its report ‘Freedom in the World 2021 – Democracy Under Siege’.
The report also says „that the annual gap between losses and gains widened in 2020, and fewer than a fifth of the world’s people now live in fully free countries.“
The report covers 195 states and 15 territories and monitors the 15-year-long global fall in political and civil liberties.
According to the report, Serbia scored 64 index points in 2020 – in the category of political rights, 22 out of a possible 40 points, and in the category of civil liberties, 42 out of a possible 60. That means that since 2010, Serbia fell for a total of 14 points and the country was categorised as ‘partly free,’ the Voice of America (VOA) said.
The report also says that the authorities in Serbia worked “non-transparently” during the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time, VOA added, the US has gone down 11 index points but is still categorised as a free country,
Besides Serbia, the other countries from the Western Balkans: Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia are also in the ‘partly free’ category.
Slovenia and Croatia, both members of the European Union, are seen as free countries.
„Serbia is a parliamentary democracy with competitive multiparty elections, but in recent years the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties, putting pressure on independent media, the political opposition, and civil society organisations. Despite these trends, the country has continued to move toward membership in the EU,“ the report said.
(Novi Magazin, 03.03.2021)
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