Albania’s progress towards a full-fledged liberal democracy is trapped in the “grey zone” of hybrid democracy according to Freedom House’s 2021 report.
The report, which assess 27 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia, marked “the 18th consecutive year of democratic decline for the region as a whole”.
For 2021, Albania’s democracy scored a 3.75 out of 7, with 7 representing the highest level of democratic progress. This places it squarely in the “hybrid democracy” category.
According to the report, hybrid democracy regimes “may be democratic in the minimal sense that they feature regular, competitive elections, but their dysfunctional institutions are unable to deliver the definitive components of a liberal democracy”.
Albania’s score remains unchanged from 2020 to 2021, but it has been on a slow by steady decline since 2012, after experiencing a brief period as a full democracy between 2005 and 2010.
Nevertheless, Albania is one of several countries in the area “stuck in the grey zone.” In fact, the report argues that while in the past, the hybrid zone had been seen as a necessary step towards full-fledged liberal democracy, it has now become a trap.
According to the report, part of Albania’s problem lies also in the lack of a credible opposition to push the country towards full democracy.
“To be credible agents of change, the opposition must represent a break with the status quo, embodied by either a single dominant party or by several equally corrupt parties who rotate in government. Albania’s Democratic Party [does] not meet this criterion; the Albanian Democrats are perceived to be as corrupt as the ruling Socialist Party,” the report finds.
Freedom House lists a number of recommendations to challenge the rise in authoritarianism, including a call towards EU institutions to reimagine accession as a way to defend democracy.
“The bloc should finally start accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, pressing Bulgaria to drop objections to the latter’s candidacy,” it concludes.
