Since the 1990s, Southeastern European countries have made significant progress in ensuring stability and transparency from the unrest after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Not all progress has been even, and in some countries, progress is reversing course. The general theme based on news and reports in recent years is that corruption continues to be an issue in the region despite the progress made on other fronts. Note that corruption does not just affect a country’s government but also other aspects, such as media freedoms, judiciary independence, and financial sectors.

The annual Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International released its 2021 report in January. The report highlights progress worldwide regarding corruption, considering various factors such as perceptions of institutions, trust in institutions, public sector corruption, and “assessments of country experts or business people” as listed in the report’s methodology. Countries with higher scores are the better performing countries. In the 2021 report, Slovenia scored the highest compared to its neighbouring countries with a score of 57, having gone down three points since last year. This is partly due to increasing media restrictions and less trust in these institutions under Prime Minister Janez Jansa. The lowest-scoring countries are Bosnia Herzegovina and Albania, both scoring 35. These countries have had corruption scandals over the years, and little has been done to hold individuals accountable.

For instance, in Bosnia, Balkan Insight reports that ex-minister Sadik Ahmetovic admitted to paying about €9,000 not to serve a six-month prison sentence for abuse of office. In Albania, an environment minister was detained for “abuse of post, corruption and money laundry for a concession contract on an incinerator,” according to Associated Press. In Serbia, RFE/RL explains that there has been “preferential treatment of media favourable to [President Aleksandar Vucic’s] policies [and] mostly state-owned Telekom Srbija scooping up media and cable companies.” These are not all the issues in these countries and the region, but they broadly highlight ongoing trends indicating that corrupt acts have not been fully addressed.

The report’s findings are notable given that countries such as Serbia, Bosnia, and Albania, aspire to join the European Union (EU). That is not to say that membership in the union will resolve these issues. EU countries such as Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Slovenia are also facing media freedom, graft, and judicial independence issues. While these developments have become more recent, such as in Slovenia, other countries, such as Bulgaria and Romania, have dealt with corruption issues before becoming EU members. Something else to note is the responsiveness in tackling corruption in these countries. This is a major challenge in Bosnia, given the country’s political structures and strong nationalist tendencies between various groups. Leaders in countries may also be quick to address corruption regarding political opponents but remain silent about their party or close group of associates. These trends are part of why anti-corruption progress has been slow.

There have been repeated calls from the United States and Western EU countries for leaders in Southeastern Europe to do more to address corruption. The report highlights that “corruption levels are at a worldwide standstill [and explains that] human rights and democracy are also under assault [both of which are] crucial in the fight against corruption.” These factors also apply to Southeastern Europe, which means that governments in these countries must do more than call out these practices happening where they are at. It is also important not to turn anti-corruption measures into political tools used against political rivals, which would further stall significant progress. Being more transparent about these efforts will also reassure the populations that there are consequences for these actions. This will not completely remove corruption from a country, but it can lead towards steps to make it difficult and more costly to do so, a step in the right direction.