DW: The fight against corruption is the responsibility of the governments of the Western Balkans themselves

Deutsche Welle; Ms. Prokic, Albania is the only country in the Western Balkans that has experienced a decline in the Corruption Perception Index. What is the reason?

Lidija Prokic: It is true that Albania has decreased by one index point compared to last year. But declines or increases by one point are neither to worry too much nor to be proud of. What should be emphasized in the case of Albania, is that, if we look at it in a ten-year period, it has risen by only two points. And this means that Albania has lost many opportunities to seriously fight corruption.

For example?

For example, the chance to make an electoral law that increases transparency and guarantees equal conditions for all parties to run in elections. Electoral reform failed to solve this very important problem and this has aggravated the political situation in the country and has led to a decline in the credibility of decision-making bodies.

Albania is praised by many western countries for the vetting process. Did not this fact play a role so that at least Albania did not lose the level of a year ago?

In terms of vetting, it is positive that the process has now begun to take shape. A positive element, which I want to emphasize is the start of the work of the High Judicial Council, reducing the influence of the Ministry of Justice on the judiciary. But what needs to happen now is for the newly elected judges and prosecutors to start prosecuting corruption cases, and that is something that will be crucial.

Missed chance in Albania: The electoral law failed to provide equal treatment for all parties, says Prokic. Over the last decade, Albania has risen only two points higher in the corruption perception index.

Northern Macedonia and Chuang are the only two countries in the Western Balkans that have made progress. What was their recipe?

Kosovo has made progress after many years of staying in the country or deteriorating. Now it has climbed three points in the index, so it has 38 points. We think that the improvement has played a positive role in the field of democracy, that is, the fact that Kosovo has had a peaceful handover of power in two elections held within a very short time. Another very positive element in the case of Kosovo was the fact that Kosovo was one of the few countries in Europe where the parliament remained fully functional during the pandemic. It is important that institutions maintain their independence even in times of crisis. Kosovo thus increased the people’s trust in the decisions taken in the pandemic crisis.

Northern Macedonia, which scored 39 points, four points more than last year, has made progress in prosecuting senior officials for corruption and in strengthening the oversight institutions of the capacities of the Corruption Prevention Agency. But let us not forget that Northern Macedonia also has only 39 points, and is below the world average, 43.

Katica Janeva, was the special prosecutor of Northern Macedonia, who in 2020 was convicted of corruption.

Montenegro however averages 46 points…

In fact I have to say that we should not be content with just the numbers. We have a political crisis in Montenegro, after the change of government, and the situation in the country no longer reflects the figures. Nevertheless, Montenegro managed to make some important changes in the information law, after a long and persistent effort of the previous government to restrict freedom of information. Another improvement is that the Montenegrin government, for the first time, made public spending information open. And this enables the oversight bodies to be much more independent than before.

Bosnia and Herzegovina this year is a country that Transparency International has put under scrutiny. What is the reason?

The current political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina is very worrying. Also worrying is the fact that anti-corruption has no place at all in the government’s agenda. The government in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be much more active in the fight against corruption, it must address electoral reform, to guarantee truly free elections and without pressure on voters.
Another serious issue is that journalists are facing threats, physical attacks, and media manipulation. None of this gives hope that the situation will change soon. It is very disappointing to see that politicians are not taking the fight against corruption seriously, especially when you consider their statements on rapprochement with the EU

The Kosovo Parliament was one of five parliaments around the world that functioned properly during the pandemic: The other countries were: Armenia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Serbia in your report is mostly criticized for the lack of democracy. Is that why you are not making progress in the fight against corruption?

Serbia has stagnated in the country by 38 points compared to a year ago and is at its lowest level in ten years. Several international organizations specializing in the field of democracy, such as Freedom House and International Idea, note a repeated government influence on the media and restrictions on media freedom. And another reason is the elections, which are not free, and for which civil society has constantly warned.

The countries of the Western Balkans are corrupt, but the EU continues to pour millions. Are EU mechanisms sufficient to control the use of funds?

The EU has a number of instruments to control the use of funds, but there are also some weaknesses, because we have many situations when European funds are not spent adequately in these countries. But in this context, it must be said that governments are responsible, and the less responsible they are in the fight against corruption, the less willing will EU countries be to accept them into the EU, and this has to do with do directly with the experience that the EU has had before with some member states./DW

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