Freedom house
Serbia is a parliamentary democracy with competitive multi-party elections but in the last several years the ruling Serbian Progressive Party has repeatedly violated political rights and civil liberties, exerting pressure on independent media, the political opposition and civil society organizations, the NGO Freedom House stated in its latest report.
Published on Feb. 29, the document concludes that Serbia falls into the category of “partly free” countries and ranked the country three points lower than last year.
According to the NGO, freedom in Serbia has been on the decline for the past decade. This year, Serbia was ranked 114th on a list of 195 countries and 15 territories. The New York-based watchdog’s annual list contains three categories – free, partly free and not free – based on the state of local democracy, human rights and political freedoms.
Freedom House’s Balkans expert Aleksandra Karpi has said this year’s report shows that Serbia has demonstrated the greatest decline in Europe as a whole. “Therefore, not just in the Western Balkans and not just globally, but in all of Europe, [Serbia] was, unfortunately, the leader in the decline of citizens’ rights and civil liberties,” Karpi told the Voice of America.
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