Out of more than 100,000 civil society organizations registered in the Western Balkans, less than 1% focus directly on organized crime and corruption.
This is according to the Stronger Together: Bolstering Civil Society in the Western Balkans report from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, published this week.
The report describes it as “surprising considering the serious and widespread impact of these threats on the region.”
Some NGOs do address issues but focus rather on drug use, youth development, post-prison reintegration, media freedom, marginalized groups, several issues including political pressure, lack of funds, and security risks.
GIATOC found that the space for civil society in the Western Balkans is shrinking, despite the importance they have in raising awareness and strengthening resilience within the population.
The report notes with concern the several reports of verbal and physical attacks on journalists that have increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also noted the issue of the anti-defamation package which if implemented will put all online media under state supervision.
Despite this, “a small number of commercial media outlets continue to cover organized crime and corruption in the region.”
While Albania has made changes to legal frameworks to be compliant with necessary EU accession standards, some reforms such as anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism legislation have been misused to increase state control over civil society.
One of the identified obstacles for civil society organizations that was exacerbated by the pandemic is the fact that to form an NGO, the incorporation and any administrative changes must be done in court. Since the pandemic started, the time required has doubled “practically blocking new organizations from being established.”
Concerning matters for NGOs in Albania included drug cultivation and trafficking, human smuggling, environmental issue, loan sharking, labor exploitation, and extortion. They were particularly concerned about their impact on communities.
In terms of labor exploitation, there were reports in the clothing industry whereby workers were forced to repay half their salary to the company, leaving them with less than EUR 150 a month.
It also found that businesses in Shkodra were forced to pay around EUR 25 a month for “protection.”
Funding was also an issue and financial instability was a huge threat to their work. NGOs reported that 51% of funding came from the EU in 2019.
