Corruption - a continuous threat to democracy in Western Balkans EU candidates

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the progress in implementing anticorruption framework in four candidate countries in Western Balkan: Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The objectives of this paper are to determine what are the main obstacles in implementing these reforms. Despite having made positive steps towards EU accession, these four candidate countries are still plagued by pervasive corruption and captured political systems. As the future of the EU becomes increasingly uncertain, Balkan leaders are more inclined than ever to push the limits of their authority while still vying for EU acceptance. If the downward trajectory of the past six years continues, this generation of Western Balkans rulers could potentially reverse the region's democratic progress. As Western Balkan leaders take advantage of EU instability to increase their authority, they will continue to weaken democracy while continuing to seek EU membership. As a result, the region holds a very poor track record for prosecuting corruption, especially among high-level public officials. Even when such cases are investigated, they generally suffer long delays and often end in acquittals or result in light and inconsistent sentences.