Freedom House assesses Serbia as “free country”

WASHINGTON Freedom House NGO has given Serbia a status of a free country in its annual Freedom in the World 2012 report. Countries of the region have been categorized as “free” and “partly free” countries. Serbia is in a group of “free” countries that have political competition, respect civil rights and freedoms and have independent media. Freedom House assesses Serbia as “free country” When it comes to the region, aside from Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro have also been given a status of free countries. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, which was rated separately from Serbia, are classified as “partly free” due to limited respect of political rights and civil freedoms. They are also plagued by corruption, lack of the rule of law, frequent ethnic and religious conflicts and their political scenes are dominated by a single party despite a certain level of parallelism. Democracy in decline worldwide, report says Democracy around the world was in decline in 2012 for the seventh year in a row. The Freedom House non-governmental organization found 90 countries now enjoyed full freedom, up from 87 nations in 2011, but 27 places saw new restrictions on rights of assembly, expression and the media. Some three billion people, or 43 percent of the global population, enjoyed full political rights and civil liberties, while 1.6 billion resided in partly free countries, where there is only limited respect for freedoms in place, AFP has reported. Around 34 percent of the world's population, or 2.3 billion people, however live in countries deemed to be not free. Russia, Iran and Venezuela were singled out by the report. The most dramatic improvements since 2008 were seen in Libya, Tunisia and Myanmar, reads the report. Egypt, Zimbabwe, Moldova and Ivory Coast are also among those countries where repressive restrictions were eased. Mali, where rebel soldiers ousted the elected government last year, topped the list of nations in which the most freedoms were lost, suffering "one of the greatest single-year declines in the history of Freedom in the World," said the report, which has been drawn up annually since 1972. According to the Freedom House, the most serious declines in freedom in the Asia-Pacific region were seen in the Maldives, where the democratically-elected president was forcibly removed, and Sri Lanka, marred by corruption. China's communist leaders continued to operate "the world's most complex and sophisticated apparatus for political control," it is said in the report. The report also warned that since the re-election of Vladimir Putin as the president of Russia, the country has "ushered in a new period of accelerated repression." Tanjug

Freedom House assesses Serbia as “free country”

When it comes to the region, aside from Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro have also been given a status of free countries.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, which was rated separately from Serbia, are classified as “partly free” due to limited respect of political rights and civil freedoms. They are also plagued by corruption, lack of the rule of law, frequent ethnic and religious conflicts and their political scenes are dominated by a single party despite a certain level of parallelism.

Democracy in decline worldwide, report says

Democracy around the world was in decline in 2012 for the seventh year in a row.

The Freedom House non-governmental organization found 90 countries now enjoyed full freedom, up from 87 nations in 2011, but 27 places saw new restrictions on rights of assembly, expression and the media.

Some three billion people, or 43 percent of the global population, enjoyed full political rights and civil liberties, while 1.6 billion resided in partly free countries, where there is only limited respect for freedoms in place, AFP has reported.

Around 34 percent of the world's population, or 2.3 billion people, however live in countries deemed to be not free.

Russia, Iran and Venezuela were singled out by the report.

The most dramatic improvements since 2008 were seen in Libya, Tunisia and Myanmar, reads the report. Egypt, Zimbabwe, Moldova and Ivory Coast are also among those countries where repressive restrictions were eased.

Mali, where rebel soldiers ousted the elected government last year, topped the list of nations in which the most freedoms were lost, suffering "one of the greatest single-year declines in the history of Freedom in the World," said the report, which has been drawn up annually since 1972.

According to the Freedom House, the most serious declines in freedom in the Asia-Pacific region were seen in the Maldives, where the democratically-elected president was forcibly removed, and Sri Lanka, marred by corruption.

China's communist leaders continued to operate "the world's most complex and sophisticated apparatus for political control," it is said in the report.

The report also warned that since the re-election of Vladimir Putin as the president of Russia, the country has "ushered in a new period of accelerated repression."