The second Freedom barometer was presented: Croatia advanced in its fight against corruption

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Zagreb, October 14, 2014 – The German liberal Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in cooperation with the Fifth Department of the Political Academy of the CPP (Department for the Public), in organization of the European Liberal Forum and sponsored by the European Parliament, presented the second edition of Freedom Barometer, which analyses the state of political and economic freedoms and the rule of law in the Western Balkans.

„The publication measures certain freedoms, while this year's research encompassed Albania, BiH, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. This year's edition analysed the status of political freedoms, the rule of law and economic freedoms", said the head of the Political academy of the CPP and MP Boris Blažeković, while the director of the Foundation pointed out that the Barometer was slightly changed in comparison to last year.

„For liberal democrats, Freedom Barometer is extremely important, as it measures the success of liberal democrats in the political arena, which for us means the fulfilment of four freedoms, freedom of speech, religious freedom, economic freedom and freedom from fear", said the coordinator of the Fifth Department of the Academy and political analyst Davor Gjenero.

„In a year since the presentation of the first Barometer, there were minor changes. While we, the Croatian society often have a feeling of going backwards, the Freedom Barometer registered only a stagnation, rather with a slight advancement in the area of fight against corruption.," said Gjenero.

„The rule of law is at the lowest level in all of the countries encompassed by the study, though Croatia has advanced in its fight against corruption," said the international secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party of Serbia Dušan Gamser.

„The lack of rule of law, especially of the independence of the judiciary in the countries of Western Balkans is the main obstacle on the road to achieving freedom. Countries in the region have made a slight progress in their fight against corruption. However, in the area of protection of human rights, many freedoms are still threatened."

„In the area of economic freedoms, the worst situation is in the sector of rule of law," said Mihailo Gajić from the Libertarian club Libek. As a particular problem, he underlined the fact that the overall score of economic freedoms is only slightly more than half, which for Croatia means 25,5 out of 40.

The research has shown that all countries in the region except Albania have an overgrown public sector and a high level of public spending which is nearing one half of the annual GDP. Such a high level of public spending requires a high level of taxation that makes doing business difficult and has a negative effect on the economic growth. High budgetary deficits characterize the entire region in which the public debt represents an ever vital issue which must be dealt with as soon as possible. The region is also characterized by weak institutions, primarily in the area of protection of private property and the rule of law.