Corruption 2021: Serbia at its lowest score in decade for second year in a row

NEWS 25.01.202209:48 0 komentara
Unsplash/Markus Spiske

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Serbia ranks 96th out of 180 countries and territories, with 38 points, recorded for the second year in a row, which is also its lowest estimate so far, according to the Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 published by the International Transparency (IT) on Tuesday.

Serbia has not made any progress and, with 38 points as in previous years, remains at its lowest result since 2012, when the data were comparable, the latest CPI’s report says.

Serbia shares 96th place with five other countries Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Lesotho, and Turkey. Serbia and other countries from the Western Balkans are classified in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The report recalls that Serbia is no longer considered a democracy but a hybrid regime. The Government has become notorious for its strong influence on the media, harassing independent critics and holding unfair elections.

The Government’s lack of transparency over significant foreign investment is a widespread concern, reflected in a recent wave of public protests against a controversial lithium exploration project.

The country-level movement has forced the President and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party to amend the referendum law and repeal laws that would make it easier for the state to expropriate the country.

The CPI report stresses that throughout the Western Balkans and in Turkey, which has an index of 38, the concentration of power in autocratic leaders and their parties has undermined judicial independence, which helps maintain the capture of the state.

Authoritarian governments are said to have spied on, harassed and attacked activists, journalists, opposition leaders and ordinary citizens across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Only three countries in the region have an index above the global average of 43: Georgia 55, Armenia 49 and Montenegro 46.

The region’s governments reportedly used COVID-19 as a pretext to further suppress critical voices, passed restrictive laws, stifled freedom of speech and access to information, and undermined an independent judiciary.

In the Western Balkans, Montenegro has an index of 46, Northern Macedonia and Kosovo 39, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania 35. Slovenia is 41st with an index of 57, and Croatia is 63rd with an index of 47.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide according to the level of corruption in the public sector, and the results show a scale of zero, which means high corruption up to 100 when it comes to a spotless country or territory in terms of corruption.

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