Albanians consider corruption a big issue, believe in EU accession before 2030

Albanians believe their country is corrupt more than any other nationality in the Western Balkans, according to the result of the Regional Cooperation Council Balkan Barometer Survey 2023, but they also pin hopes on EU accession before 2030 as a way to improve the situation.

The report is based on the opinions of 6,000 people across the region and covers various topics such as regional politics, corruption, economy, safety, and general living conditions.

It found that 38% of Albanians think corruption is a big problem for the country.

This is the highest figure compared to other countries in the region and 12 percentage points higher than for Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, where it is 26%. Some 25% of Montenegrins and Serbians thought the same, with the regional average scoring 27%.

The percentage of Albanians that think corruption is an issue has increased significantly from 2022, when it was just 27%, and it ranked in third place after Serbia with 28% and Bosnia and Herzegovina with 34%.

While neighbouring countries saw increased citizens’ confidence in 2022, Albania was the only one to register a decrease.

Regarding judicial independence, in 2023, 48% tended to disagree that the law is applied to everyone equally, while 39% disagreed completely. This was a marginal improvement in 2022 when 44% disagreed completely, and 38% tended to disagree. Similar figures and trends were noted for general trust in judicial institutions throughout the country.

Trust in government was low, with 61% combined either totally or partially not trusting them, with just 38% tending to trust or completely trusting. But at a local level, trust was higher for national authorities, with 43% trusting them, compared to 53% not trusting either partially or completely.

But when it comes to political parties, people’s trust was even less, with 84% not trusting or tending not to trust them, while 14% said they rused them. The survey did not specify which parties when conducting the questions.

Overall, trust in media, police, and civil society organisations, was higher than in politicians, and in terms of media, people preferred to trust social media over online media platforms.

While citizens perceive the country as getting more corrupt, according to the Transparency International Corruptions Perception Index 2022, Albania ranked 101 and scored 36 out of 100 – an improvement compared to previous years. In 2021, it ranked 110 and scored 35.

Meanwhile, one in two Albanians said they had been asked for a bribe, while half admitted giving it, a report by the Southeast European Leadership for Development and Integration conducted at the end of 2022 found.

According to the report, Albania has the highest pressure and involvement in corruption in the Western Balkans for all indicators, such as seeking bribes, giving them, acceptability of corruption, falling prey to it and even state capture by businesses.

“Albania appears to be the country most affected by the highest administrative corruption in the region with 57% of citizens being asked for bribes at least occasionally and 47% actually participating in corruption transactions,” the report states.

Meanwhile, the 2023 Freedom House democracy report noted that Albania had a minor increase in its overall score from 3.75 last year to 3.79 this year, based on an evaluation of 2022. This increase was attributed to an improvement in corruption following several high-profile indictments and convictions of former officials and progress in promoting the fight against corruption and organised crime.

According to the Barometer, other concerns for Albanians included the state of the economy, with 50% being concerned by it, less than Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Emigration was also a concern, with 41% believing ‘brain drain’ is a risk to the country’s future, higher than the regional average of 26%.

Since the end of an almost 50-year totalitarian communist regime in 1991, over 1.4 million people have left the country, with some 700,000 going in the last decade. A census scheduled for later this year will indicate who has left and who has returned during that time.

But it was not all bad news. Albanians are not worried about crime, with just 10% thinking it is an issue, the lowest in the region.

Meanwhile, confidence in the EU and the integration process increased from 2022, when it was 89%, to 92% in 2023, one of the highest in the Western Balkan region.

The most important parts of EU integration for Albanians started with economic prosperity, followed by freedom to study and work in the EU, peace and stability and freedom to travel.

As for when they think accession will happen, 40% say by 2030, 30% by 2035 and 18% never.

(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)