According to the 2021 Nations in Transit report by Freedom House, “democratic gains have been rolled back” in most Balkan countries, except for Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia which somewhat improved their scores.

The report evaluates “the state of democracy in the region stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia” and includes numerical ratings in seven categories that “broadly represent the institutional underpinnings of liberal democracy” for all 29 countries evaluated.

For the first time after ten years of setbacks or stagnation, there was an improvement in the democratic progress for Bosnia and Herzegovina – from 3.32 to 3.36 – due to progress in the area of Local Democratic Governance.

On the other hand, BiH, which is categorised as a ‘Transitional or Hybrid Regime’, received the worst score in the area of National Democratic Governance (2), while it received the best score in Electoral Process and Civil Society (4,5).

Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia registered a decline, according to the report.

“While important transfers of power took place in Montenegro in 2020 and Kosovo in 2021, it is still unclear whether they will lead to an improvement in democratic institutions. And without such institutional transformation, any political opening is extremely difficult to sustain,” the report said.

There were no changes in Croatia, but there was a deterioration in Slovenia, which is the only regional country classified as a “consolidated democracy”.

According to this year's report, Albania had a drop in democratic points from 3.82 to 3.75, reflecting deteriorations in the areas of Civil Society and Independent Media. Of a number of areas in which the FH assesses the state of democracy in the range of one to seven, Albania has the best score in Civil Society (4.75) and the worst in Corruption (2.75).

Montenegro’s score slipped from 3.86 to 3.82 in the democratic score with a deterioration in the area of Local Democratic Governance. Montenegro has the best score in the area of Civil Society (5.25), and the worst in Corruption (3.00).

In Kosovo, after five years of continuous progress, last year there was a decline in the democratic score from 3.18 to 3.14 for the first time, due to a setback in the area of National Democratic Governance. Kosovo received the best score in Civil Society (4.5), and the worst in Corruption (2.25).

Serbia has been steadily declining in the level of democracy in the last seven years, and last year it had the largest decline in democratic points among the Western Balkan countries, from 3.96 to 3.89, due to deterioration in National Democratic Governance and Electoral process. It scored best in Civil Society (5.5), and worst in National Democratic Governance and Independent Media (3.25).

North Macedonia achieved progress in the democratic score from 3.75 to 3.82, with improvements in the areas of National Democratic Governance and the Electoral Process. It has the best score in the area of Civil Society (4.75), and the worst in the areas of Judicial Framework and Independence and Corruption (3.25)