Politicisation, media decline impede EU membership goal for six Balkan countries, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi says

According to an audit report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), EU support for the six Western Balkan countries seeking admission to the bloc has not been sufficient to combat governance problems in areas like the independence of the judiciary, the concentration of power, political interference, and corruption. 

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Professor of Democracy Studies at the Hertie School and one of three experts consulted by ECA in the audit, said in the Brussels Times on 13 January that the report was "a step ahead in the understanding of how rule of law works and that the formal and standardized approach of the EC has not managed to make a decisive difference."

“The Balkans have not progressed due to intense politicisation of bureaucracy and the judiciary and the continuous decline of the media,” she said.  “All West-European investors pulled out, leaving the local civil society and the media too weak to demand more objective and less client-based governance.”

She also noted that the ECA’s recommendation to help strengthen a free press and civil society could support a more sustainable approach backed by political will, which is currently missing. 

Read the full article here. 

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