Albania has gained a place in this year’s Freedom in the World report by Freedom House, rising to 67 from 66 in 2020. The country is still classified as “partly free” meaning there is significant work to be done.
The score is awarded out of 100 with one being the worst and 100 being the highest. Sweden, Norway, and Finland topped the list with 100 points, followed closely by New Zealand with 99, Canada with 98, and Ireland with 97.
Bottom of the list and the least free countries in the world were Syria, Tibet, and South Sudan each with one points, followed by Turkmenistan with two, and Eritrea and North Korea with three.
Albania’s score of 67 puts it alongside neighbouring Montenegro and North Macedonia and above India, Bolivia, and Malawi. Serbia scored worse with 62 points, as did Bosnia and Herzegovina with 53. Kosovo came somewhere in between with 56 points.
Despite Albania’s slight improvement, the report describes a situation where “global freedom faces a dire threat.”
“Around the world, the enemies of liberal democracy—a form of self-government in which human rights are recognized and every individual is entitled to equal treatment under law—are accelerating their attacks. Authoritarian regimes have become more effective at co-opting or circumventing the norms and institutions meant to support basic liberties, and at providing aid to others who wish to do the same.”
It notes that countries that have struggled in the space between democracy and authoritarianism are increasingly tilting towards the latter.
“The global order is nearing a tipping point, and if democracy’s defenders do not work together to help guarantee freedom for all people, the authoritarian model will prevail,” the report notes.
The current situation is the result of 16 consecutive years of democratic decline and today, 38% of the population live in non-free countries. Only 205 live in free ones.
