Albanians believe their country is more corrupt than any other nationality in the Western Balkans, according to the results of the Regional Cooperation Council’s 2023 Balkan Barometer survey, but they also pin their hopes on EU membership before 2030 as a way to improve the situation.
The report is based on the opinions of 6,000 people across the region and covers various topics such as regional politics, corruption, the economy, security and general living conditions.
The study reveals that 38% of Albanians believe that corruption is a major problem for the country.
This is the highest figure compared to other countries in the region and 12 percentage points higher than Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, where it is 26%. Around 25% of Montenegrins and Serbs think the same, with the regional average being 27%.
The percentage of Albanians who think corruption is a problem has increased significantly compared to 2022, when it was only 27%, and ranks third after Serbia with 28% and Bosnia and Herzegovina with 34 %.
While neighboring countries saw their citizens’ confidence increase in 2022, Albania was the only one to see a decline.
Regarding judicial independence, in 2023, 48% somewhat disagreed with the idea that the law should be applied equally to everyone, while 39% strongly disagreed. This is a marginal improvement in 2022, where 44% strongly disagreed and 38% somewhat disagreed. Similar figures and trends were noted regarding general trust in judicial institutions across the country.
Trust in the government was low, with 61% of respondents distrusting it completely or partially, and only 38% tending to trust it or trust it completely. But at the local level, trust was higher in national authorities, with 43% trusting them, compared to 53% not trusting them partially or completely.
But when it comes to political parties, citizens’ trust is even lower, with 84% not trusting them or tending not to trust them, while 14% say they have misled them. The survey did not specify which parties when conducting questions.
Overall, trust in the media, police and civil society organizations was higher than in politicians, and in terms of media, people preferred to trust social media rather than online media platforms .
While citizens perceive the country as increasingly corrupt, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2022, Albania ranks 101st and scores 36 out of 100 – an improvement over previous previous years. In 2021, he ranked 110th and had a score of 35.
Meanwhile, one in two Albanians said they had been asked for a bribe, while half admitted giving it, according to a report by the South East European Leadership for Development and the integration carried out at the end of 2022.
According to report, Albania has the highest pressure and involvement in corruption in the Western Balkans for all indicators, such as seeking bribes, giving bribes, acceptability of corruption, being a briber prey and even corporate capture of the state.
“Albania appears to be the country most affected by the highest administrative corruption in the region, with 57% of citizens being asked for bribes at least occasionally and 47% actually participating in corrupt transactions” , the report says.
At the same time, Freedom House’s 2023 democracy report noted that Albania saw a slight increase in its overall score, from 3.75 last year to 3.79 this year, based on from a 2022 assessment. This increase has been attributed to an improvement in corruption following several high-profile indictments. and convictions of former officials and progress made in promoting the fight against corruption and organized crime.
According to the Barometer, Albanians are also worried about the state of the economy, with 50% of them concerned, less than Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Emigration is also a concern, with 41% believing that “brain drain” poses a risk to the country’s future, which is higher than the regional average of 26%.
Since the end of a totalitarian communist regime that lasted almost 50 years in 1991, more than 1.4 million people have left the country, including some 700,000 in the last decade. A census planned later this year will show who left and who returned during that time.
But it wasn’t all bad news. Albanians are not worried about crime, with only 10% thinking it is a problem, the lowest in the region.
At the same time, trust in the EU and the integration process increased from 89% in 2022, to 92% in 2023, one of the highest in the Western Balkans region.
The most important aspects of European integration for Albanians began with economic prosperity, followed by freedom to study and work in the EU, peace and stability and freedom to travel.
As for when they think accession will happen, 40% say by 2030, 30% by 2035 and 18% never.
(Alice Taylor | Sortie.al)