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Serbia remains in the group of “partially free” countries and lost two more points in the area of political rights and civil liberties compared to last year, according to the annual Freedom House report. Criticisms have focused on pressure from the ruling party, police action in the July protests and the authorities’ opaque attitude towards the coronavirus pandemic, according to the report. Belgrade officials, for now, have not reacted.
Washington’s Freedom House does not recognize Freedom House in Serbia, it sees it as only partially free. In the political rights category, Freedom House awarded Belgrade 22, out of a possible 40 points, and in the civil liberties category, it rated Serbia 42, out of a maximum of 60 points.
When that balance is transferred to the table of countries with the greatest decrease in freedoms in the last 10 years, Serbia is between Nauru and the Comoros, and of the European countries, only Azerbaijan and Hungary are better placed.
In the report of the American organization that has been measuring the state of freedoms in the world for decades, the following criticisms are directed at Serbia by 2020:
– In recent years, the SNS has been constantly endangering political and civil liberties by putting pressure on independent media, the opposition and civil society organizations.
– The decision to reduce the census before the June parliamentary elections was made with the intention of reducing the effect of the boycott.
– Excessive use of police force against protesters and journalists in the July protests.
– The authorities responded non-transparently to the coronavirus pandemic, denied information on the number of deaths, and those who criticized it faced repression and disciplinary proceedings were carried out against them.
“The report is realistic, but in some parts it is too light, the assessment of Serbia has been reduced in two aspects related to freedom of assembly and electoral conditions.” The opportunity to reduce the evaluation in terms of space for civil society action was lost, given the pressures of the past year, ”says Tara Petrović of Civic Initiatives.
For the first time, the report clearly criticizes the actions of the ruling party.
“I think that a lot of scandals involving various party officials, that is, in depth and according to their boards, it is very likely that this corrupt element is the reason why the SNS was emphasized together with Aleksandar Vučić, and it is important that the party is mentioned like this, that the state of democracy is collapsing at all levels, ”says political scientist Boban Stojanović.
The downward trend that began in 2016 continues. If it’s any consolation, this isn’t Serbia’s biggest setback in the field of political rights and civil liberties. So far, the Serbian authorities have not reacted to the latest Freedom House findings.
