Democracy in Albania has dropped to a minimum of eight points over the Freedom House Transit 2021 report on Nations.
She scored just 3.75 points out of 7 possible, falling from last year’s position of 3.82. The last time the country was positioned at such a low level was in 2013, the year when Prime Minister Edi Rama took office for the first time. The country grew slightly during its rule, recording its first decline during 2020.
The report ranks the country as only 46% democratic, less than half. It ranks 14th in the region, after Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.
This result categorizes Albania as a “hybrid regime”, bordering on a semi-consolidated authoritarian regime.
One of the issues raised in the report was that of media freedom in the country.
“The freedom of the Albanian media, which has long been affected by oligarchic control as in most of the region, has also been affected by numerous strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). Furthermore, the controversial anti-defamation legislation was intended to restrict freedom of expression. “
Overall, the report found that “current leaders and ruling parties are corrupting governance and spreading anti-democratic practices throughout the region.” The report notes that these leaders are pushing for a deterioration of conditions that will have global consequences on human freedoms. He accuses them of “creating facades against the democratic model”.
“Over the past decade, however, between the fall of the liberal democratic order and the rise of authoritarian powers, the idea of democracy has begun to lose power in many capitals, growing polarization and inequality have fueled insecurity and anger, and mismanagement of major democracies due to the COVID-19 pandemic has provided additional space for those interested in exploiting the frustration with democratic governance.
They added that countries across the region are moving away from democracy and find themselves trapped in a cycle of obstacles and partial recovery.
