Freedomhouse: Serbia and Montenegro are not democracies - European Western Balkans.

Washington - Serbia and Montenegro are not democracies for the first time since 2003, concludes the report "Nations in Transit" by the nongovernmental organization Freedom House, a document that examines and describes governance in 29 countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Voice of America reports.

According to this 2020 report, Serbia and Montenegro are classified as "governments in transition or hybrid regimes". In such regimes, power is based on authoritarianism as a result of incomplete democratic change. "Over the years, with increasing state capture, abuse of power, and fear-mongering tactics, Aleksandar Vučić in Serbia and Milo Đukanović in Montenegro have pushed their states below the line - for the first time since 2003, they are no longer in the category of democracies among countries in transit," Freedom House said in its report.

Leading the list of critics directed at Serbia Serbia has recorded a negative performance in democratic reforms and governance practices for five consecutive years. As the report explains, since the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power in 2012, the opposition's ability to be involved in the country's governance has been systematically limited. "From 2016 to 2018, only proposals from government-oriented parliamentarians are on the agenda for voting in the Assembly. Also in 2019, only two motions are voted out of the parliamentary majority. To limit scrutiny of its own motions, the SNC excludes the opposition from parliamentary committees and floods motions with useless amendments included in the time approved for parliamentary debate," Freedom House said in its report.

Freedom House researchers said that in recent years, more than half of the laws have been adopted through emergency procedures, and the questionable legitimacy of the parliamentary majority further discourages opposition deputies. They recalled assessments by the Council of Europe and observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and noted that the last parliamentary elections in 2016 showed the abuse of the electoral process by the SNC.

The result of all of the above, it is noted, is that the opposition is boycotting the work of Parliament because "they do not feel they can effectively advocate for policy change" through that body.

In Montenegro, the most obvious problems in the judicial system Freedom House researcher Michael Smelser said for Voice of America that the most obvious problems in Montenegro are in the judicial system. "Negative trends and shortcomings in independent work in this area have been noted. In this sense, researchers have drawn attention to the concern about cases of scandals in the judiciary and prosecutor's office," Smelser said, adding that the concern is further heightened by the fact that the terms of office of members of the Judicial Council are expiring.

Regarding parliamentary practices in Montenegro, the report indicates that the Assembly controlled by the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) has slowed electoral reforms, making it difficult for opposition parties to boycott. "Electoral reforms have been slow in the DSS-dominated Assembly, although they have also been hampered by difficulties in collecting quorums during the boycott. However, there were no major problems in securing votes to pass the controversial Law on Religious Freedom," the Montenegro part of the report said.

Significant progress Kosovo and North Macedonia Compared to last year's report, Kosovo and North Macedonia have made significant progress among the Western Balkan countries. "Kosovo and North Macedonia showed multiple improvements in results. Kosovo is the only country that has shown steady progress over the past five years," the report says. But Freedom House also has some doubts, as they say recent events in both countries raise doubts about future progress.

The position of Bosnia and Herzegovina remained unchanged, that is, in the category of hybrid regimes.