Measured by ratings, based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest, Croatia scored 3.64 after the country's performance was assessed in seven areas, according to the latest edition of the "Nations in Transit" report.
Croatia's performance improved in two categories in comparison to the previous year. Progress is thus visible in the struggle against corruption and Croatia’s civil society rating has improved.
The ratings remained at the same level in other sectors: electoral processes, independent media, national democratic governance, local democratic governance and in judicial framework and independence
Apart from Croatia, improvement in "Democracy Score" was registered in Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization for democracy and human rights, reports that when it comes to the Balkans "while Croatia and Serbia continued to make gradual progress in 2010 on reforms associated with EU candidacy, five other countries in the region -- Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro -- suffered declines in their overall democracy scores."
The report notes that "Hungary, a European Union member state, experienced declines in four areas, including significant setbacks in national democratic governance and independent media."
For instance, "Ukraine has experienced a clear reversal under the leadership of President Viktor Yanukovych, suffering declines in a total of five areas, including steep reductions in judicial independence and national democratic governance."