Background Reports on Kosovo Available

In anticipation of Kosovo’s parliamentary and local elections occurring on November 17, Freedom House is making available its annual reports on the state of democratic development in the internationally-administered area.

These elections are critical for Kosovo. The municipal elections are a year overdue, having been postponed from last year, and direct mayoral elections will take place for the first time ever. Kosovo’s civil society has been active in the run-up to elections and plans to monitor the entire electoral process.

Kosovo received a democracy score of 5.36 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as least democratic) in the 2007 edition of Nations in Transit, Freedom House’s annual survey of democratization from Central Europe to Eurasia. The region ranks as Not Free in the 2007 edition of Freedom in the World, Freedom House’s annual survey of political rights and civil liberties worldwide.

Freedom House analysts for Kosovo are available for comment upon request.

For more information on Kosovo, visit:

Nations in Transit 2007: Kosovo/UNMIK-Administered
Freedom in the World 2007: Kosovo [Serbia]

Freedom House also has prepared two special reports with partners from Kosovo and Serbia from the European Standards Series. For information about energy policies in Serbia and Kosovo, see Energy in South East Europe: Reconsidering National Energy Strategies to Match International Commitments. For information about the movement of people and goods, see A Joint European Vision: Free Movement for Goods and People in Kosovo and Serbia.

Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has monitored political rights and civil liberties throughout the region since 1972.