The organization “Freedom House,” based in Washington, has published its annual report assessing that Kosovo and Albania remain “partly free” countries despite progress in some areas for advancing human rights and civil liberties.

In the report on “Freedom in the World,” Kosovo is rated this year with 60 out of 100 points, unchanged from the previous year. In the past, “Freedom House” has described Kosovo as a country in transition with a hybrid governance system.

Meanwhile, in the Global Freedom Index, Albania is rated with 68 points, marking an improvement of one point compared to last year’s assessment. Albania is also considered a country in transition with a hybrid system of governance.

Alexandra Karppi, the Balkans expert at “Freedom House,” told Voice of America that the situation in Kosovo cannot be separated from the dynamics of developments between Kosovo and Serbia.

“In recent years, Kosovo has made progress, which is reflected in the results, regarding the protection of human rights and civil liberties, more beneficial political processes, which have enabled citizens to participate more freely, and civil society be more active. These things have nevertheless marked progress in recent years,” Ms. Karppi stated.

According to her, 2023 was a difficult year for Kosovo.

“We have seen an increase in violence in the northern municipalities, which can cast doubt on many processes and may put pressure on the government to ensure that it provides protection for all citizens of Kosovo,” Ms. Karppi emphasized. “These are long-term processes. This is a complex security situation.”

She stated that “although there are concerns about media freedom and journalist safety, significant progress has been made in respecting the rights of minorities and religious rights.”

“Kosovo remains one of the leading countries in the Western Balkans in some of the most important and fundamental pillars of democracy.”

Regarding Albania, Ms. Karppi highlighted the improvement in the vetting process, which, she says, “has begun to make progress by forcing Albania to tackle corruption in the field of justice.”

According to Ms. Karppi, this means that in Albania, the courts are now in a better position to serve citizens and are more efficient.

“This means that in Albania, citizens’ access to the justice system is significantly improving, and this progress should be acknowledged,” she added.

Ms. Karppi stated that the lack of transparency and dysfunctional governance continue to be concerns in Albania. She mentioned the conduct of local elections, during which, she says, “an environment for freer and fairer elections has not been created.”

“Overall, Albania has progressed this year by giving citizens the opportunity to once again participate in democratic processes by adhering to commitments to reforms taken before the European Union.”

The report assessing the progress of 195 states and 15 territories during 2023, based on assessments in the field of political rights and civil liberties, described the overall global state of political rights and human liberties as “a broadly escalating situation.”

/k.s/