This policy brief examines the persistence of high-level corruption and state capture as key obstacles to EU accession in the Western Balkans. It finds that, despite substantial legislative alignment...
This policy brief examines the abuse of state resources and its deep implications for the democratic governance and electoral integrity. It provides data-driven insights to uncover the critical factors...
No Real Democracy Without Strong Institutional Checks and Balances It is well-known that corruption thrives in environments with weak or ineffective institutional checks and balances. Power holders often exploit the...
The escalating geopolitical tensions worldwide, exemplified by conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, have disrupted common global agendas. This, coupled with the challenge to established international governance norms...
The policy brief underlines the importance of proper governance of public finances, especially in countries with rule of law deficiencies. The analysis notes that intergovernmental transfers in Southeast Europe (SEE)...
Media capture is quite visible in all Western Balkan countries. Governments influence the media by regulating access to government news resources, advertisements and other forms of public financing to shape...
Despite the high corruption levels, observed through SELDI's 2021 Corruption Monitoring System (CMS), the Western Balkan countries continue to lack a coherent approach to tackling the problem. A number...
Civil society organizations have become critical protagonists in the fight against organized crime and corruption. However, less than 1% out of all 100,000 registered CSOs in the Western Balkans deal...
International and regional cooperation is a powerful tool for effectively addressing the problem of corruption. Corruption is an intricate issue that requires exchanging experiences and good practices between countries. Numerous...
The hidden economy is closely linked to corruption. Empirical studies show that they fuel each other - a one-point rise in the index of corruption is associated with an increase...
The EU has the capacity to be the regional stabilising factor for anti-corruption reforms throughout the Western Balkans and a crucial player in the fight against the growing threat of...
Although judicial reforms have been ongoing for more than a decade in the countries of the Western Balkans, no significant progress has been observed, in particular as it relates to...
