Freedom House: “Albania and Kosovo partially free”

28/01/2015 00:00

In one year, when the situation of the international freedom fell for
the ninth consequent year, as noted by the Voice of America, Albania and
Kosovo kept being included in the list of partially free countries.

The annual report of “Freedom House” shows that the evaluation for Albania is unchanged. Kosovo, on the other hand, is progressing and is included for the first time in the list of countries with electoral democracy.

Our country has been valued with 3 points for the freedom situation in general. The measuring system of this international organization has a scale from 1 to 7, with 7 representing the biggest lack of freedom, and 1 its highest presence.

Freedom House says that the unchanged situation of Albania is due to the combination of rooted institutional problems with the fact that the positive reforms that are still in their first phases.

“We would want Albania to have more progress. The country is still trying to leave behind the information darkness of the Hoxha regime. That’s why it may take more time. They have marked important progress”, declared Arch Puddington, Deputy President for Researches at the Freedom House.

The report underlines that the Rama government was able to receive the EU candidate status in 2014, after postponing it for three years, and that it has received positive feedback for their measures against organized crime, the law on information freedom, and the law for the consulting processes that is used for drafting important legislations and strategies for their policies.

However, “Freedom House” underlines that the country is still suffering the consequences of the political disagreements, including the opposition’s parliamentary boycott, the impunity of high-rank officials and former officials who have been accused for corruption, and a heritage of politically appointed judges.

Puddington, quoted by the Voice of America, says that Albania must increase its efforts for the EU accession.

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